Police: Wander Franco arrested in D.R. after altercation

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was arrested Monday in San Juan de la Maguana, 116 miles west of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic after what two police sources said was an altercation Sunday in the parking lot of an apartment complex in which guns were drawn.

Meregirdo Espinosa, a Dominican police spokesman, told The Associated Press that some men in the altercation were carrying firearms but did not specify which ones.

Police sources confirm that Franco and an unnamed woman were being held for questioning following the incident. Another man was also detained and two firearms were seized, police said.

Espinosa said one of the guns presumably belonged to Franco, who was allegedly fighting with the other man over the woman's attention.

Police didn't say whether there were injuries.

Franco, who was placed on indefinite administrative leave from Major League Baseball on Aug. 22, 2023, is due to stand trial in the Dominican Republic on Dec. 12 in a separate case involving charges of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation against a minor and human trafficking, which could result in a sentence of up to 20 years.

Franco, 23, was placed on MLB's restricted list in July, sources had told ESPN, after prosecutors in the Dominican Republic accused him of having a sexual relationship with a then-14-year-old girl.

He is also under an MLB investigation under its domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy until the case is resolved.

The court summoned Franco and the mother of the girl for the trial after an investigation that opened in 2022. The case will be heard by a panel of three or five judges.

Franco cannot leave the Dominican Republic under his bail agreement as he awaits the trial, but he is free to travel within the country, police confirmed.

Police also said that Franco would be free to carry a gun should he have a license to carry one and have said weapon registered. Police could not confirm on Monday whether Franco had met either of those requirements.

The Rays gave Franco an 11-year, $182 million extension in 2021, just 70 games into his major league career.

He made the All-Star team for the first time in 2023.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.