Former MLB All-Star Lenny Dykstra has been charged with drug-related offenses following a traffic stop conducted by Pennsylvania State Police on New Year’s Day. The police found the 62-year-old Dykstra, who was a passenger in a vehicle stopped in Pike County, in possession of illicit substances and related paraphernalia.
Pike County is located about 40 miles east of Scranton, where Dykstra resides. Authorities have indicated that charges have been formally filed, although details about the specific drugs in question have not been disclosed.
Dykstra’s attorney, Matthew Britt, expressed confidence that Dykstra would be “quickly exonerated” since the vehicle in question does not belong to him. Notably, Dykstra was not charged with being under the influence at the time of the stop, according to Britt.
In a statement to the press, Britt mentioned, “To the extent charges have been filed against him, they will be promptly dismissed.” This isn’t Dykstra’s first brush with the law; he has a history of legal issues, including a conviction related to bankruptcy fraud in California, where he received a sentence of over six months for concealing assets from his playing career.
In addition to that case, Dykstra pleaded no contest to grand theft auto and served a three-year sentence for providing false financial information while claiming he had substantial debt contrasted with minimal assets. These sentences ran concurrently.
In April 2012, he also entered a no contest plea for an incident involving inappropriate behavior with women he met online. More recently, in 2019, he faced various legal issues, including pleading guilty to renting out rooms unlawfully in his New Jersey residence, incurring a fine of roughly $3,000.
That same year, he was involved in another situation with an Uber driver, which initially included drug charges and threats, but those charges were later dismissed. At that time, police reported discovering cocaine, MDMA, and marijuana in his possession, although his lawyer characterized the event as “overblown.”
Dykstra’s MLB career spanned 12 seasons, beginning with the New York Mets and concluding with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was named an All-Star three times, all while playing for the Phillies after being traded from New York during the 1989 season.
He had an impressive season in 1993, leading the National League with 194 hits and 143 runs scored, ultimately finishing second in the MVP voting that year with a batting average of .305 and a total of 66 RBIs.
