LINDEN, NJ — Former Major League Baseball All-Star Lenny Dykstra has been indicted on three counts for drugs and making terroristic threats during an early morning altercation with a ride-sharing driver in May that occurred in Linden.
The 55-year-old former outfielder, who played from 1985 to 1996 with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, was indicted Oct. 9 on two drug counts, one for cocaine and another for methamphetamine, and another of threatening an Uber driver, identified only as B.L. in the indictment, a copy of which was obtained from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
Earlier this year, Linden police issued a release saying Dykstra was arrested outside Linden Police Department Headquarters just before 3:30 a.m. on May 23.
Officers were alerted to a vehicle that sped into the attached parking garage, Linden police said. The driver, a 47-year-old Roselle resident, was beeping the horn repeatedly until he came to a stop in front of the building, then ran from the car and told the officers that he had picked up Dykstra in Linden moments earlier for a scheduled fare. Dykstra, who had been living in Linden, reportedly tried to change the destination and, when the driver refused, Dykstra put a weapon to his head and threatened to kill him, police said.
According to police, no weapon was located, but cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among were reportedly recovered from Dykstra’s belongings.
Dykstra was charged and released. About two weeks later, during a press conference in New York, Dykstra claimed he had been kidnapped and threatened by the Uber driver after he asked to change his destination. Dykstra claimed he called police from the car.
The arrest and indictment is only the latest in a series for Dykstra, who won the World Series with the Mets in 1986, and was selected to the MLB All-Star Game three times while playing with the Phillies.
Among his arrests and convictions are: pleading no contest in 2011 California State Court for automobile theft, a scheme in which he and others obtained leased vehicles using fraudulent identities; pleading guilty less than a year later in federal court to bankruptcy fraud and money laundering; and charges related to various alleged incidents of sexual assault, drug possession, fraud and indecent exposure.
Dykstra was also included in the 2007 Mitchell Report, commissioned by MLB, which identified him as one of many players who had used steroids during their career.