Fla. Police Seek Gooden; DUI Suspected

By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer

document.write(getElapsed("20050823T174432Z"));3 hours agoUPDATED 2 HOURS 20 MINUTES AGO

TAMPA, Fla. - Former baseball star Dwight Gooden was being sought by police Tuesday on a felony warrant after he allegedly drove away from an officer who stopped him on suspicion of drunken driving.

Gooden, 41, left the scene of the traffic stop early Monday after refusing to get out of his 2004 BMW to take a field sobriety test, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

The officer stopped Gooden's car because he was weaving in traffic near downtown Tampa, McElroy said. Gooden, a Tampa native and resident, has a history of drug abuse and is awaiting trial on a domestic violence charge.

"The officer pulls over the car and immediately notices that the driver is under the influence," she said. "He has bloodshot, glassy eyes, his speech was slurred and he has a strong odor of alcohol."

Gooden handed the officer his driver's license but refused two requests to get out of the car, McElroy said. He then drove off with the officer still holding his license.

Police chose not pursue for safety reasons, McElroy said, but went to his two known addresses to look for him. They also contacted his most recent employer, the New York Yankees, and his mother, she said.

Yankees spokesman Howard Grosswirth said Tuesday that Gooden hasn't worked for the team as a special adviser since April and officials don't know his whereabouts.

Gooden, who was out of jail on bail after a March domestic violence arrest, is wanted on felony charges of DUI and fleeing police, and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence.

"At this point he is in a lot of trouble, and the only way he can help himself is to come forward and take responsibility for his actions," McElroy said.

Gooden, the 1984 Rookie of the Year and the 1985 NL Cy Young Award winner while with the New York Mets, went 194-112 with a 3.51 ERA before retiring in 2001. He also pitched for the Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Gooden was arrested by Tampa police in 2002 on a drunken driving charge, but later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and received a year probation. He was arrested in March and charged with hitting his live-in girlfriend in the face during an argument. He was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery, and the case is pending.

A call to Peter Hobson, the attorney representing Gooden in the domestic violence case, was not immediately returned Tuesday.

During his playing days, Gooden was suspended for 60 days in 1994 for testing positive for cocaine while with the Mets. He tested positive for cocaine again while on suspension and was sidelined for the 1995 season.

Earlier this month his son, Dwight Gooden Jr., 19, was jailed for violating his probation for cocaine possession. Police said they found marijuana and bullets in the younger Gooden's vehicle parked outside a nightclub.

Gooden's disappearance is reminiscent of the 2001 disappearance of his friend and former teammate Darryl Strawberry, who was missing for four days after he walked away from a drug treatment center where he was under house arrest.

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Kev- I'm sorry but he is pathetic! What a waste of great talent! Given so many opportunities (you and I would have been thrown out on our butts!) and wasted them! Sorry to see his son following in his footsteps!

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Of course, the lawyer in me has to go through a legal analysis of Doc's choice of action.

Assuming all the relevant facts in the case were correctly cited by AP, this would have been a first offense DUI, the only prior having been reduced to reckless driving. (I honestly can't remember if Gooden has any prior DUI's on his lengthy police blotter.) Since this stop did not involve an accident with death, injury, or property damage, it most certainly would have been a misdemeanor DUI. And that's his worst case scenario. His best case scenario is an acquittal (which is not out of the question) and there is room for any and every scenario in between.

Now, two felonies and a misdemeanor...

Damn shame about his son.

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Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

What a moron. How stupid could you be running from the police?! And you're a famous person, so everyone recognizes you. Stupid.

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Amie
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"I'm not an actress. I just play one on t.v."

My guess is that there might have been some dope/coke/other/all of the above in the car with him, making him decide to flee rather than deal.

Definite waste of talent. Had it all, and now look...

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This is a tad belated but you may have hit the nail on the head, Kevin. Take his chances with the flight from justice as opposed to going down for sure on another drug bust.

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Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

He turned himself in (finally), and will now have some hell to pay...

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