LAKELAND, Fla. -- Because of his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol Wednesday night, Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera likely will not report on time today for the start of spring training.
Based on baseball's history of similar allegations of alcohol or substance abuse, Cabrera won't be cleared to get on the field until he has been examined by a doctor who will prescribe a course of treatment. The doctor is appointed jointly by baseball management and the players union. He could undergo the treatment while continuing to play.
Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said Thursday that he expects Cabrera to join the team at some point.
He said Cabrera wanted to report to camp today in time for Saturday's first full-squad workout. But Dombrowski said "we still have to work through some issues." He said the commissioner's office and players union are involved in "the process."
Cabrera was arrested at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday and faces a charge of DUI and two counts of resisting an officer without violence in Ft. Pierce, Fla., more than 100 miles from his South Florida home and the Tigers' Lakeland training base in central Florida. It's unclear why Cabrera was in Ft. Pierce.
In the arrest affidavit, St. Lucie County Sheriff's deputies said Cabrera became belligerent with them and repeated, "Do you know who I am? You don't know anything about my problems." He refused a breath test.
Cabrera, free on bail Thursday, was at his home when Dombrowski had what he said was a short phone conversation with him.
"He was down ... and apologetic," Dombrowski said.
His friend and teammate from Venezuela was stunned.
His winter workout partner was stunned.
To folks in the Tigers’ camp, news of Cabrera’s Wednesday night arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in Florida came as a jolt. They said they hadn’t seen signs that he had relapsed into the alcohol trouble that ensnared him at the culmination of the 2009 season.
“I was completely shocked,” Dombrowski said Thursday. “I had no idea. I didn’t think there were any problems there because they have been thoroughly addressed. But I’ve said this all along: When you are dealing with issues of alcohol, that is a constant battle for a person for the rest of their lives.”
Second baseman Carlos Guillen, Cabrera’s friend and Venezuelan countryman, was surprised because he knew Cabrera had gone to alcohol rehab.
Catcher Alex Avila, who lives in South Florida, often took batting practice with Cabrera in recent weeks and said he was focused on the season. Cabrera turns 28 on April 18.
“We were all shocked,” Avila said. “The first inclination you have is about him and his feelings rather than how it affects the baseball team. There are obviously much more important things in life than baseball, even though we come here and work really hard at it.”
In their report, deputies gave this account of what happened next:
•Cabrera had “a strong odor of an alcohol beverage” on his breath, his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and his speech was heavily slurred. The keys were in the ignition.
•A deputy asked who was with him, and Cabrera said: “I am going to (expletive) kill him,” but police say they didn’t see anybody else at the scene.
bull;Cabrera picked up a bottle of James Buchanan’s Scotch Whisky and started drinking from it.
bull;He got out of the vehicle after handing a deputy his passport and walked onto the road while putting his hands up.
bull;Cabrera repeatedly said, “Do you know who I am? You don’t know anything about my problems.” He didn’t comply with several orders to get into the patrol vehicle and cursed at police.
•The arresting deputy lifted Cabrera’s left hand — he already had been cuffed — “to gain pain compliance.” Cabrera “pushed off the vehicle” into the deputy, who then “delivered 3-4 knee spikes” into Cabrera’s left thigh. Cabrera fell into the patrol vehicle.
•In the portion of the report titled “Psychophysical Evaluation,” the arresting officer checked the boxes under “attitude” marked “cocky,” “combative,” “argumentative” and “belligerent.”
Cabrera was arrested on suspicion of DUI and two counts of resisting an officer without violence at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday and booked into the St. Lucie County jail early Thursday. He also received a citation for having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
After posting a $1,350 bond Thursday morning, Cabrera was released. He then picked up his impounded SUV.
Legal experts say that refusing the breath test could cause Cabrera to lose his Florida driver’s license for a year. He would not be able to get a license in another state during that time, said Bob Dekle, a University of Florida Levin College of Law legal skills professor.
The arrest appears to be Cabrera’s first in Florida. A criminal record search did not reveal any other arrests there or in Michigan.
He was convicted of speeding in Florida in 2002. Records from Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles showed he was going 83 m.p.h. in a 55-m.p.h. zone.
Five SUVs are registered to him in Florida. He also owns a 2010 white Land Rover, 2010 black GMC, 2008 white Cadillac and 2002 white Cadillac, said Courtney Heidelberg, a representative for the highway department.
If Cabrera is found guilty of DUI, he may never serve time in jail. Dekle said there is no requirement that a first-time offender convicted of DUI in Florida serve jail time and often that is the case, but it remains a possibility.
Michael Cohen, president of Essen, Essen, Charnota & Cohen, P.A., is a Florida attorney specializing in DUI cases. He said in his experience there is generally no jail time for a first-time offender who enters a plea of guilty or no contest. If a person goes to trial and is found guilty, chances of jail time go up, he said. There is a maximum sentence of six months in jail for a first-time offender found guilty.
Cohen said he has represented more than 1,000 people charged with the crime and said there are a lot of unanswered questions in the arrest affidavit that could help with Cabrera’s legal defense. Among them, Cohen wanted to know at what point deputies detected alcohol on him — before or after the drink of whiskey. If it was after, he may not be guilty of DUI. Also, Cohen said he wanted to know how deputies concluded he was behind the wheel since it didn’t say in the arrest affidavit where Cabrera was when they found him.
It’s still unclear why Cabrera was in the area of Ft. Pierce. The small, waterfront community with a population of 44,000 is described as a family town where people come to enjoy the beaches or fish.
“It’s not a big bar drinking area,” said Pam Gillette, an event coordinator for Main Street Ft. Pierce, which works on restoring the downtown area and bringing people in.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Radhi Muhammad completed his final pre-spring training workout with Cabrera at 4.40 Fitness in Ft. Lauderdale, about 110 miles south of Ft. Pierce. Muhammad, who also trains Avila and outfielder Magglio Ordonez, said he wrapped up his session with Cabrera at 11 a.m.
“I was very shocked, to say the least,” said Muhammad, 26, who began training Cabrera last off-season. “It was the last thing that I was expecting to hear out of the TV. I’m at a loss of words.”
Asked whether Cabrera could have hid heavy alcohol usage from him this off-season, Muhammad said it would have been extremely difficult. He said their workouts started Nov. 1.
“I mean, we do an hour-and-a-half worth of speed and agility training,” he said. “Down here in Florida, it’s not too cold down here. And we do it outside. So he wouldn’t be able to perform as well as he did.
“This off-season was, by far, the best off-season I’ve seen him train. He increased all his personal records as far as in the weight room and in the field with speed and agility stuff. There was no way that he could have hid going out or anything like that. He was on-point as far as anything like that.”
The player whose locker is nearest to Leyland’s office is Cabrera’s.
For Leyland on Thursday, Cabrera was so near, yet so far.
http://www.freep.com/article/20110218/SPORTS02/102180469/1001/News/Cabrera-likely-needs-doctor-sign-off-before-spring-training?odyssey=nav%7Chead
Based on baseball's history of similar allegations of alcohol or substance abuse, Cabrera won't be cleared to get on the field until he has been examined by a doctor who will prescribe a course of treatment. The doctor is appointed jointly by baseball management and the players union. He could undergo the treatment while continuing to play.
Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said Thursday that he expects Cabrera to join the team at some point.
He said Cabrera wanted to report to camp today in time for Saturday's first full-squad workout. But Dombrowski said "we still have to work through some issues." He said the commissioner's office and players union are involved in "the process."
Cabrera was arrested at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday and faces a charge of DUI and two counts of resisting an officer without violence in Ft. Pierce, Fla., more than 100 miles from his South Florida home and the Tigers' Lakeland training base in central Florida. It's unclear why Cabrera was in Ft. Pierce.
In the arrest affidavit, St. Lucie County Sheriff's deputies said Cabrera became belligerent with them and repeated, "Do you know who I am? You don't know anything about my problems." He refused a breath test.
Cabrera, free on bail Thursday, was at his home when Dombrowski had what he said was a short phone conversation with him.
"He was down ... and apologetic," Dombrowski said.
How Cabrera landed in jail
His general manager was stunned.His friend and teammate from Venezuela was stunned.
His winter workout partner was stunned.
To folks in the Tigers’ camp, news of Cabrera’s Wednesday night arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in Florida came as a jolt. They said they hadn’t seen signs that he had relapsed into the alcohol trouble that ensnared him at the culmination of the 2009 season.
“I was completely shocked,” Dombrowski said Thursday. “I had no idea. I didn’t think there were any problems there because they have been thoroughly addressed. But I’ve said this all along: When you are dealing with issues of alcohol, that is a constant battle for a person for the rest of their lives.”
Second baseman Carlos Guillen, Cabrera’s friend and Venezuelan countryman, was surprised because he knew Cabrera had gone to alcohol rehab.
Catcher Alex Avila, who lives in South Florida, often took batting practice with Cabrera in recent weeks and said he was focused on the season. Cabrera turns 28 on April 18.
“We were all shocked,” Avila said. “The first inclination you have is about him and his feelings rather than how it affects the baseball team. There are obviously much more important things in life than baseball, even though we come here and work really hard at it.”
The police find Cabrera
According to an arrest affidavit from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy spotted Cabrera’s vehicle — a black 2005 Land Rover — with smoke coming from the engine Wednesday night on the side of Okeechobee Road in Ft. Pierce, about 120 miles southeast of the Tigers’ spring-training base in Lakeland.In their report, deputies gave this account of what happened next:
•Cabrera had “a strong odor of an alcohol beverage” on his breath, his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and his speech was heavily slurred. The keys were in the ignition.
•A deputy asked who was with him, and Cabrera said: “I am going to (expletive) kill him,” but police say they didn’t see anybody else at the scene.
bull;Cabrera picked up a bottle of James Buchanan’s Scotch Whisky and started drinking from it.
bull;He got out of the vehicle after handing a deputy his passport and walked onto the road while putting his hands up.
bull;Cabrera repeatedly said, “Do you know who I am? You don’t know anything about my problems.” He didn’t comply with several orders to get into the patrol vehicle and cursed at police.
•The arresting deputy lifted Cabrera’s left hand — he already had been cuffed — “to gain pain compliance.” Cabrera “pushed off the vehicle” into the deputy, who then “delivered 3-4 knee spikes” into Cabrera’s left thigh. Cabrera fell into the patrol vehicle.
•In the portion of the report titled “Psychophysical Evaluation,” the arresting officer checked the boxes under “attitude” marked “cocky,” “combative,” “argumentative” and “belligerent.”
Cabrera was arrested on suspicion of DUI and two counts of resisting an officer without violence at 11:14 p.m. Wednesday and booked into the St. Lucie County jail early Thursday. He also received a citation for having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.
After posting a $1,350 bond Thursday morning, Cabrera was released. He then picked up his impounded SUV.
Jail time unlikely
Florida deputies said the night of his arrest Cabrera refused to submit to a breath test to check his alcohol content. A field sobriety test was not administered, according to the police report. No explanation for this was included in the report, and a sheriff spokesman told the Free Press that he had no other information besides what was in the report.Legal experts say that refusing the breath test could cause Cabrera to lose his Florida driver’s license for a year. He would not be able to get a license in another state during that time, said Bob Dekle, a University of Florida Levin College of Law legal skills professor.
The arrest appears to be Cabrera’s first in Florida. A criminal record search did not reveal any other arrests there or in Michigan.
He was convicted of speeding in Florida in 2002. Records from Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles showed he was going 83 m.p.h. in a 55-m.p.h. zone.
Five SUVs are registered to him in Florida. He also owns a 2010 white Land Rover, 2010 black GMC, 2008 white Cadillac and 2002 white Cadillac, said Courtney Heidelberg, a representative for the highway department.
If Cabrera is found guilty of DUI, he may never serve time in jail. Dekle said there is no requirement that a first-time offender convicted of DUI in Florida serve jail time and often that is the case, but it remains a possibility.
Michael Cohen, president of Essen, Essen, Charnota & Cohen, P.A., is a Florida attorney specializing in DUI cases. He said in his experience there is generally no jail time for a first-time offender who enters a plea of guilty or no contest. If a person goes to trial and is found guilty, chances of jail time go up, he said. There is a maximum sentence of six months in jail for a first-time offender found guilty.
Cohen said he has represented more than 1,000 people charged with the crime and said there are a lot of unanswered questions in the arrest affidavit that could help with Cabrera’s legal defense. Among them, Cohen wanted to know at what point deputies detected alcohol on him — before or after the drink of whiskey. If it was after, he may not be guilty of DUI. Also, Cohen said he wanted to know how deputies concluded he was behind the wheel since it didn’t say in the arrest affidavit where Cabrera was when they found him.
It’s still unclear why Cabrera was in the area of Ft. Pierce. The small, waterfront community with a population of 44,000 is described as a family town where people come to enjoy the beaches or fish.
“It’s not a big bar drinking area,” said Pam Gillette, an event coordinator for Main Street Ft. Pierce, which works on restoring the downtown area and bringing people in.
A workout hours earlier
Cabrera’s personal trainer learned about the arrest while watching television Thursday morning.Less than 24 hours earlier, Radhi Muhammad completed his final pre-spring training workout with Cabrera at 4.40 Fitness in Ft. Lauderdale, about 110 miles south of Ft. Pierce. Muhammad, who also trains Avila and outfielder Magglio Ordonez, said he wrapped up his session with Cabrera at 11 a.m.
“I was very shocked, to say the least,” said Muhammad, 26, who began training Cabrera last off-season. “It was the last thing that I was expecting to hear out of the TV. I’m at a loss of words.”
Asked whether Cabrera could have hid heavy alcohol usage from him this off-season, Muhammad said it would have been extremely difficult. He said their workouts started Nov. 1.
“I mean, we do an hour-and-a-half worth of speed and agility training,” he said. “Down here in Florida, it’s not too cold down here. And we do it outside. So he wouldn’t be able to perform as well as he did.
“This off-season was, by far, the best off-season I’ve seen him train. He increased all his personal records as far as in the weight room and in the field with speed and agility stuff. There was no way that he could have hid going out or anything like that. He was on-point as far as anything like that.”
Skipper stays silent
Leyland declined to comment on Cabrera’s arrest. He said he didn’t have all the details and didn’t have the permission of top management to speak about the matter. Leyland said this while sitting in his clubhouse office Thursday.The player whose locker is nearest to Leyland’s office is Cabrera’s.
For Leyland on Thursday, Cabrera was so near, yet so far.
http://www.freep.com/article/20110218/SPORTS02/102180469/1001/News/Cabrera-likely-needs-doctor-sign-off-before-spring-training?odyssey=nav%7Chead
No comments:
Post a Comment