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Strawberry returns, taken into custody ESPN.com news services | |||||||||||||||||
TAMPA, Fla. – Darryl Strawberry was arrested at a hospital
Monday night, shortly after ending his four-day disappearance from
a drug treatment center.
The troubled former slugger was taken into custody at 8 p.m. ET at St.
Joseph's Hospital on a violation of probation warrant, Hillsborough
County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
The 39-year-old former star, who is also being treated for colon
cancer, had not been seen since he left the Health Care Connection,
a drug treatment center in Tampa, late Thursday.
First word that Strawberry was safe came from Ray Negron, a
Cleveland Indians consultant who advised the former player when he
played for the New York Yankees.
"The search is over and Darryl is OK," Negron said about two
hours before Strawberry was arrested. "We've put him in a hospital
to make sure he's taken care of. He's OK."
Further details on Strawberry's disappearance were not known.
Strawberry was wearing an electronic monitor as a sentence for
his 1999 arrest on drug and solicitation of prostitution charges.
The monitor showed he had left, but did not indicate where he had
gone.
Earlier Monday, police said they were investigating an
unconfirmed report that Strawberry was kidnapped and being held in
Orlando, where his captors were demanding $50,000.
St. Petersburg, Fla., police were given the information from Ronald
Dock, who is a New York Yankees drug counselor. Dock says he and
another Strawberry friend didn't know the caller, who told them
that Strawberry also had been pistol-whipped.
Strawberry's attorney, Joseph Ficarrotta, said Monday afternoon
he had not heard from his client.
"He's got an uphill battle," Ficarrotta said. "Our prayers
and thoughts are with him and hopefully everything will work out
for the best."
Prosecutors had said they would seek a prison sentence for
Strawberry once he was located.
Strawberry also disappeared from the center in October. He left
with a friend for an overnight drug binge but turned himself in the
next day.
If it is determined that Strawberry has broken house arrest, it
will be the fourth time he has violated conditions imposed by a
Hillsborough County drug court Judge Florence Foster.
Foster has kept Strawberry out of prison so he can seek
treatment for his addiction and his cancer.
Strawberry, who has a history of substance abuse is currently on
Major League Baseball's suspended list and has been banned from
the game three times in his career.
Strawberry was banned 60 days in 1995 for failing a drug test
and 120 days in 1999 after pleading no contest to drug and
solicitation charges resulting from an arrest earlier that year.
The eight-time All-Star missed the 1998 playoffs as a member of
the Yankees after being diagnosed with colon cancer. The Yankees dedicated the postseason to their stricken teammate
and captured their 24th World Series title.
Once considered a future Hall of Famer, Strawberry admitted to
substance-abuse problems more than seven years ago and his
career has been wrecked by those problems and other legal woes.
During eight seasons with the New York Mets, he won the 1983
National League Rookie of the Year award, was a World Series
champion in 1986 and led the NL with 39 homers in 1988.
Strawberry signed as a free agent with his hometown Los Angeles
Dodgers after the 1990 season and encountered back trouble two
years later. Before the 1994 campaign, he admitted to substance
abuse problems and entered a rehabilitation center.
The Dodgers released Strawberry in May 1994 and he latched on
with the San Francisco Giants before facing more substance-abuse
problems. He was suspended for the first time in 1995 and
released by the Giants.
Following the ban, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner signed
Strawberry. Strawberry returned to the
majors late in the 1995 season and was a key contributor to the
1996 World Series championship team, hitting .262 with 11 homers
and 36 RBI in 63 games.
Information from The Associated Press and SportsTicker was used in this report. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | ALSO SEE Gooden attends Yankees' opener, but thoughts are with Strawberry Darryl Strawberry chronology | ||||||||||||||||