| | PEORIA, Ariz. -- The San Diego Padres' low-key spring training turned bizarre when Al Martin was accused of being a bigamist and charged with exchanging punches with a woman who claims she became his wife in a Las Vegas wedding.
|  | | Al Martin after his arrest. |
The outfielder, praised as a clubhouse leader after the Padres got him from Pittsburgh last month, and Shawn Haggerty-Martin were arrested on assault charges late Monday night.
The police report contained accusations of bigamy, threats with a gun and a wedding that Martin admits attending but didn't think was real.
According to Clark County records, a Shawn M. Haggerty married an Albert C. Martin in Las Vegas on Dec. 11, 1998. The police report lists Haggerty's middle name as Michelle, but Martin's is listed as Lee.
"Everyone's shocked," third baseman Phil Nevin said Tuesday. "He's a great guy."
Martin and Haggerty-Martin were released on their own recognizance and told to stay away from each other.
While the Padres were playing the Chicago Cubs, owner John Moores and general manager Kevin Towers met with Martin and his wife, Cathy, at their Scottsdale home for about 1½ hours.
"He's very emotional, very embarrassed," Towers said late Tuesday afternoon. "The last thing he wanted to do was be here (four) weeks and be a distraction to this ballclub before we start our season."
Towers and Moores left Martin with a copy of the police report "so he knows what's been said from the other side.
"It's been kind of a shock, but I think we do owe it to Al and his family to wait and hear what his side has to say," Towers said. "Before we come down on Al Martin, I want to make sure that we have all the facts in place before we discipline him."
Martin released a statement through his agent, Jeff Moorad, categorically denying the charges against him.
"Last night I had an argument with a woman, Shawn Haggerty, whom I have known for several years. This argument escalated and eventually led to police intervention," Martin said. "I take these charges extremely seriously and will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities investigating this incident."
Towers has known Martin since his days as a scout with the Pirates in the early 1990s.
"This would be the last guy that I think this would ever happen to," Towers said. "He's always been a model citizen and a guy who represents himself well."
Towers said Martin wanted to address his teammates as soon as possible, but was probably going to go away for the night.
Towers said Martin has known Haggerty-Martin for 4-5 years, and that Cathy Martin is aware of her.
"This is something that I think they've had some problems (with) in the past," Towers said. "He kind of got into a situation where he really didn't know how to get himself out of it."
In Scottsdale Justice Court, Martin was barefoot and wore the same ripped white shirt, speckled with blood, that he had on when he and Haggerty-Martin were arrested.
Haggerty-Martin was charged with assault-domestic violence, and Martin was charged with assault-physical injury and threatening or intimidating, all misdemeanors.
Police will investigate Haggerty-Martin's allegation that Martin is married to two women, Scottsdale police Sgt. Doug Dirren said.
A judge entered innocent pleas for both, and a pretrial conference was scheduled for April 12, the same day the Padres are to play the Arizona Diamondbacks in San Diego.
The argument at a Scottsdale home started when Haggerty-Martin accused Martin of still being married to someone else, Dirren said. Haggerty-Martin began hitting Martin and he punched her in the jaw at least once, Dirren said.
She called 911, and Martin left before police arrived. Martin later called the house, and police asked him to return. Two guns were confiscated, police said -- one that a nanny had hidden in a dresser drawer when the couple started fighting and one that was in the glove box of Martin's vehicle.
Haggerty-Martin had a swollen face and he had scratches across the bridge of his nose and behind his left ear, according to the police report.
Haggerty-Martin told police she had had a couple of glasses of wine and took codeine and zanax, an anti-anxiety drug, for a headache.
The Padres acquired Martin from the Pirates on Feb. 23 in a trade for utilityman John Vander Wal and two minor leaguers. Martin had wanted out of Pittsburgh and was eager to play for a West Coast team.
Towers said at the time of the trade that Martin was a "tremendous clubhouse presence" and a team leader.
Haggerty-Martin told police she did not know that Martin was married to another woman when she and the ballplayer were wed in Las Vegas on Dec. 11, 1998.
Haggerty-Martin said that at some point she realized that Martin was still married, but he kept telling her that they were getting a divorce.
Martin told police that he is not married to Haggerty-Martin but that she has been his girlfriend for about six years. Martin told police that he attended a ceremony in Las Vegas a couple of years ago but didn't believe it was real.
Haggerty-Martin told police that Martin threatened her Monday night and had been abusive several times before, including a few months ago when he pinned her to the bed, choked her and stuck the barrel of a gun in her mouth.
Martin also beat her severely enough a few years ago in Orlando, Fla., that she went to a hospital for treatment, she told police. | |
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