Benitez to Be Arrested on Assault Charge
N E W Y O R K, Jan. 24 -- New York Mets pitcher Armando Benitez is tosurrender next week on a third-degree assault charge filed by hisformer girlfriend, New York City Police said today.
Benitez is to be arrested when he surrenders on Monday at the109th Precinct in Flushing, Queens, said Lt. John Shatinsky, whoheads the precinct's detective squad. Benitez is to be accompaniedby his lawyer. Third-degree assault is a misdemeanor.
Mets senior vice president David Howard said Benitez'ssurrendering was an expected step and declined additional comment.
Girlfriend Alleges Attack Took Place in October
Stacey O'Neill, Benitez's former girlfriend, filed a complaintat the precinct on Jan. 3, alleging that Benitez punched her andleft her neck with a scar from a scratch on Oct. 18, an off-daybetween the NL championship series and the World Series. She saidhe attacked her at their Queens home.
In the police report, O'Neill said she did not alert police atthe time because she was afraid of Benitez.
On Tuesday, Baltimore prosecutors announced that a domesticabuse case filed against Benitez by O'Neill had been dismissed.
"There was not sufficient evidence to try him, and we're notgoing forward with the case," said Joyce Jefferson Daniels, aspokeswoman for Baltimore City State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy.
O'Neill had filed a complaint against Benitez in December sayinghe slammed a door against her during an argument on Nov. 8.
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