Nails’ tales
‘That Uber dude was gonna kill me, OK?’
LENNY DYKSTRA — ex-Met and ex-con — insists he’s going to be exonerated.
The perpetually-troubled three-time All-Star known as “Nails” pounded away Friday at an Uber driver blamed by Dykstra for his latest wild legal ride.
The hard-living, oft-arrested Dykstra claimed he was the victim rather than the perp when busted May 23 outside the police station in Linden, N.J., for allegedly threatening to kill the driver.
“I was in fear for my life,” insisted Dykstra, wearing a Mets cap and black sunglasses at a Manhattan news conference.
“And I called 911, and I was screaming that this man is crazy — he had kidnapped me. I literally thought this guy was going to kill me, OK?”
The former Shea Stadium favorite insists his driver locked the car doors during the bizarre predawn ride and started driving erratically when asked to take a different route to Staten Island.
Dykstra had previously — and inexplicably — claimed he was headed to the borough to “look at granite” before his 3:55 a.m. arrest.
Cops said Dykstra threatened to shoot and kill driver Brian Lutty as he drove the ex-ballplayer through the darkness, and Uber announced he was banned from using their drivers.
“I called 911 several times from the back seat,” said Dykstra in a counter-complaint filed against his Uber driver in Linden Municipal Court.
“When (the driver) heard I was calling 911, he began to drive the car erratically at a very high rate of speed, running lights.”
Attempts to reach Lutty for comment by phone and text were unsuccessful. An Uber spokesperson said the ride-sharing company was “reviewing the matter.”
Both Lutty and Dykstra were removed from the Uber app until the Linden police investigation is done, according to a source.
Dykstra’s attorney Matthew Bilt showed reporters his client’s cell phone records, claiming they indicated a missed call from 911 to the retired athlete at 3:20 a.m.
An operator was calling Dykstra back after a call for help from the one-time major leaguer was cut off, said Bilt.
“This is very upsetting to Lenny,” the lawyer said. “Especially since he was the victim here, and the media’s portrayed him as a crazy man with a gun.”
According to police, the terrified driver sped directly to police headquarters, repeatedly honking his horn, after Dykstra’s early morning death threat.
The driver jumped from the vehicle and ran for his life before cops came out and arrested Dykstra, a star of the Mets’ 1986 World Championship team.
Dykstra, 55, was charged with making terroristic threats and possession of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana.
Bilt acknowledged his client “may be guilty of (smoking) the occasional joint.”
In the past, Dykstra was guilty of bankruptcy fraud and money laundering, doing jail time on those convictions. He declared bankruptcy in 2009 after admitting to debts of up to $50 million.