Cop-threat arrest
Ex-Yank prospect in net vow to shoot officers
A Long Island man who threatened to kill cops was busted as he was about to board a plane to the Dominican Republic, police said Tuesday.
Before his Monday arrest, Leonel Vinas, 26, of Freeport, Nassau County raged on Instagram, “I'm pissed at so many things and so many people. I am going to the Dominican Republic. The first cop that stops is either getting shot or getting hi-jack (sic)."
Vinas was considered a long shot when he was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2010. He played as a rookie for the Gulf Coast League for one year before his career was over.
He came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic when he was 11 years old. He pitched for Freeport High School, where he struck out 23 of 24 batters in one game, finishing his senior season 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA and 71 strikeouts, according to NJ.com.
He was tracked to Kennedy Airport and arrested by Port Authority Police, who then turned him over to Nassau cops, sources said.
“So if you m-------------don't want fire, get out of my f------ way,” he added in the bizarre post, according to the sources. “The devil don't have more soldiers for me, he needs to come himself. F--you USA INC.”
He brought up his short baseball career while he was being arrested, telling Port Authority cops that he once pitched for the Yanks, a source said.
Vinas is charged with making a terroristic threat.