|
Wednesday, 28 December 2005 |
Former baseball star Jeff Reardon charged with robbery
A former baseball star that made millions of dollars during his time as
a player was charged yesterday with robbing a jewelry shop for all of
$170, it has been reported.
Jeff Reardon, who was a Met relief pitcher and who retired as
No. 2 on the game's all-time saves list, blamed the bungled robbery on
anti-depressants he been using since the death of one of his sons from
an overdose of drugs.
"He wanted his fans to know this is something involved with his
medication," said his attorney, Mitchell Beers. "He just wanted his
fans to know it was not him."
Police in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, arrested the bearded
ex-player in a shopping mall parking lot just minutes after his
attempted robbery of a Hamilton jewellers store.
Jeff Reardon handed a member of the store's staff a note demanding the money and indicated that he had a gun, officials said.
Jeff Reardon who was known as The Terminator during his career from 1979 to 1994 - quickly owned up to the crime, police said.
"I flipped on my medications and didn't realize what I was
doing," Jeff Reardon told the police, according to what it says in an
arrest report.
And former Boston Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette told
the Daily News that, "the whole family has had difficulty coming to
terms with Shane's death."
Dan Duquette, who played high school baseball with Reardon in
Massachusetts, said his old friend also might have been struggling with
the upcoming second anniversary of his son's death.
"It's a tragic story," Dan Duquette said.
However a New York psychologist said he very much doubted Jeff Reardon's claim that the drugs caused his action
"Can drugs make you steal from a jewellery store?" asked Alan
Hilfer, a psychologist at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. And he
added that it was more likely a "cry for help" from the troubled
ex-baseball star, who had earned more than $11.5 million during his
career.
"This man seems to be in terrible shape at the moment," Alan
Hilfer said. "And losing a child is something people never get over."
Jeff Reardon, who broke in with the Mets, last played
professional baseball during a brief stint as a Yankee in 1994 and he
officially retired during spring training the following year. Jeff
Reardon also played for Montreal, Minnesota, Boston, Atlanta and
Cincinnati.
Comment on this article
Leave your comments (Show/Hide Form)
Other Visitors Comments
There are no comments currently....
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 04 January 2006 )
|
Baseball 
