Retired professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra is facing charges after a trooper discovered drugs and paraphernalia on him during a traffic stop on New Year’s Day, Pennsylvania State Police said.
Dykstra, 62, was a passenger in the vehicle when it was stopped by a trooper with the Blooming Grove Patrol in Pike County, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.
Police said in a statement that charges would be laid, but did not specify what they would be or what drugs were allegedly involved.
Messages seeking comment were left at a phone number associated with Dykstra. His attorney, Matt Bullitt, said a statement on the matter would be released later Friday.
The baseball star’s gritty playing style earned him the nickname “Nail” during his long career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. He worked as a businessman for many years before running into a series of legal troubles.
Dykstra served time in a California prison for bankruptcy fraud and more than six months in prison for concealing baseball gloves and other items while playing ball. At the same time, he was sentenced to three years in prison for pleading no contest to auto theft and providing false financial statements. He claimed he owed more than $31 million but had only $50,000 in assets.
In April 2012, Dykstra had no problem exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.
In 2019, Dykstra pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Titan Equity Group, to illegally renting out rooms in a New Jersey home he owned. He agreed to pay a fine of about $3,000.
That same year, a judge dropped drug and terroristic threats charges against Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver. Police said they found cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana among his belongings. Dykstra’s attorney called the incident “exaggerated” and said he was innocent.
In 2020, a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed Dykstra’s defamation lawsuit against former Mets teammate Ron Darling, accusing Dykstra of making racist remarks about an opponent during the 1986 World Series.
Judge Robert D. Kalish said Dykstra’s reputation had been damaged “by unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry” and could not be further damaged.
“Prior to the book’s publication, Dykstra was notorious as a racist, misogynistic and anti-gay person, as well as a sexual predator, drug addict, thief and embezzler,” Kalish wrote.
