The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Gooden charged with drunk driving
NEWARK, N.J. — Fallen Mets superstar Dwight Gooden was once again warming a bench in a New Jersey jail cell Monday — just hours before he was supposed to show up in court for a June drug arrest, officials said.
Newark police tagged the hero hurler for drunk driving after he was seen rolling the wrong way down a one way street near Ferry and Vincent streets in the Irondale section of Newark in a 2012 black Chrysler at about 11 p.m., a department spokesman said.
When cops pulled him over, Gooden — who pitched the Mets to their most recent World Series championship in 1986 — appeared drunk, officials said.
The officers took him into custody and then called medics after he complained about a medical issue. He was taken to University Medical Center for further evaluation.
He was charged with driving while intoxicated.
“It’s sad to see the continued problems of this former Mets’ star but it’s an example of the persistent scourge of drugs and alcohol in this country and the stranglehold they have on addicts,” Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said in a statement.
Gooden, 54, whose continuing drug saga drove him out of a Hall of Fame career, was arrested just hours before he had a court appearance in Holmdel, NJ, where he was arrested on June 7 for drug possession. He was expected to answer the traffic violations he received during the arrest, not the drug charges, officials said.
Cops in Holmdel pulled Gooden over on a traffic violation at about 1 a.m. and found “two, small green ziplock style plastic baggies containing suspected cocaine” on him, according to a criminal complaint from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Gooden, who also played for the Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, was charged with thirddegree possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The expitcher’s bouts with drugs are almost as legendary as his fastball. He admitted years later that he missed the 1986 World Series parade because he was feeding his habit.
Gooden, who won the coveted Cy Young award in 1985 for being the league’s best pitcher, tested positive for cocaine in spring training ahead of the 1987 season as well as in the strikeshortened ‘94 season.
In 1995, the former Rookie of the Year was suspended for the entire season for failing another drug test.
In 2006, Gooden was arrested for violating his probation and showed up high on cocaine for a meeting with his probation officer. He spent eight months in jail for violating his probation.
Gooden, a native of Tampa, Florida, was also on the Yankees team that won the World Series in 2000.