Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces drug charges after New Year’s Day traffic stop
Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces drug charges after New Year’s Day traffic stop
Retired professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces charges after Pennsylvania State Police said a trooper found drugs and paraphernalia in his possession during a traffic stop on New Year’s Day.
Dykstra, 62, was a passenger when the vehicle was pulled over by a trooper with the Blooming Grove patrol unit in Pike County, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.
Police said in a statement that charges will be filed but did not specify what they may be or what drugs were allegedly involved.
Matthew Blit, Dykstra’s lawyer, said in a statement that the vehicle did not belong to Dykstra and he was not accused of being under the influence of a substance at the scene.
“To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved,” Blit said.
Dykstra’s gritty style of play over a long career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies earned him the nickname “Nails.” He spent years as a businessman before running into a series of legal woes.
Dykstra served time in a California prison for bankruptcy fraud, sentenced to more than six months for hiding baseball gloves and other items from his playing days. That ran concurrent with a three-year sentence for pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He claimed he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.
In April 2012, Dykstra pleaded no contest to exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.
In 2019, Dykstra pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Titan Equity Group, to illegally renting out rooms in a New Jersey house that it owned. He agreed to pay about $3,000 in fines.
That same year a judge dropped drug and terroristic threat charges against Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver. Police said they found cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among his belongings. Dykstra’s lawyer called that incident “overblown” and said he was innocent.
And in 2020 a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit that Dykstra filed against former Mets teammate Ron Darling over his allegation that Dykstra made racist remarks toward an opponent during the 1986 World Series.
Justice Robert D. Kalish said Dykstra’s reputation “for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry” had already been so tarnished that it could not be damaged further.
“Based on the papers submitted on this motion, prior to the publication of the book, Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator, a drug-abuser, a thief, and an embezzler,” Kalish wrote.
Follow Amanda Serrano vs. Reina Tellez and Stephanie Han vs. Holly Holm live results and round-by-round updates for the Serrano vs. Tellez fight card on Saturday in Puerto Rico.
Uncrowned
Need extra hints for today’s Strands puzzle? Here are clues and spoilers for puzzle #671.
Yahoo Tech
Does today’s Wordle have you stumped? Here are some hints and the answer.
Yahoo Tech
This game can be pretty tough, so we’ve got clues if you’re stuck on today’s puzzle, #937.
Yahoo Tech
The Wolverines didn’t even have their best stuff offensively, but they still flirted with another 100-point outing.
Yahoo Sports
Both Diggs and Barmore are eligible to play this week as New England vies for the top seed in the AFC.
Yahoo Sports
Oregon shut out Texas Tech 23-0 to advance in the College Football Playoff.
Yahoo Sports
Those numbers are “crazy good.”
Yahoo Sports
The offseason’s game of musical chairs has completely reshaped the big-league coaching landscape.
Yahoo Sports
Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones do a deep dive on the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Jaylen Brown.
Yahoo SportsPowered by WPeMatico