Eagle, Colo. ? One of the investigators in the case involving Kobe Bryant said Wednesday the NBA star was taken to a hospital hours after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a mountain resort.

Doug Winters, a detective with the Eagle County sheriff’s department, refused to say why Bryant was taken to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs early July 2.

“If we make contact with a suspect with any type of case that requires further investigation, then we would transport them at any time,” he said.

Winters said Bryant was free to go because he had not been charged. He said Bryant was picked up by a taxi.

Bryant, 24, is accused of attacking the woman at an area hotel June 30. Officials at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, 40 miles east of Glenwood Springs, say Bryant was a guest June 30-July 2.

Prosecutors are expected to decide by the end of the week whether the Los Angeles Lakers guard will be charged. His attorney says Bryant, who was in Colorado for knee surgery at a Vail clinic, is innocent.

Vail taxi driver Terry O’Brien, 38, told The Orange County Register he picked up Bryant and three bodyguards from the emergency room of the hospital about 2:30 a.m. July 2.

He said he dropped Bryant and two others at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, then gave the third bodyguard a ride back to the spa.

The man “cleared out” Bryant’s belongings, O’Brien said. When the trip ended at 5 a.m. the fare of $372 was paid by bodyguard Michael Ortiz, O’Brien said.

O’Brien was not at work Wednesday, and a telephone listing in his name was disconnected. A dispatcher refused to contact him.

Sheriff’s officials have not said anything about a hospital visit by Bryant, and a spokeswoman refused to discuss the case Wednesday.