Ex-MLB All-Star faces felony charge for throwing rocks at truck driver
Former Major League Baseball player Rafael Furcal was arrested in Broward County, Florida earlier this week due to a confrontation in a grocery store parking lot last month in which he threw rocks at a man he nearly crashed into with his car, according to a police affidavit obtained by USA TODAY Sports on Friday.
The Sunrise, Florida police department affidavit states that a man was driving a work truck to drop off a coworker in the parking lot of a Publix grocery store on April 28 and Furcal nearly collided with them head-on as he drove through the lot. The truck driver told police he avoided a collision by quickly turning right and made a quick U-turn to circle back to finish dropping off his coworker when they passed Furcal’s black Ford pickup truck again.
The affidavit then alleges Furcal stopped, got out of his car and began throwing rocks and a plastic bottle at the other driver. The situation escalated after the truck driver got out of his car, as Furcal allegedly threw a larger rock ‘the size of a small palm,’ according to the affidavit. The truck driver, whose name was redacted, told police he tried to block the rock from hitting his body and that Furcal subsequently recognized he was ‘bleeding profusely’ from his left hand before departing the scene.
The truck driver told police he chased after Furcal and “hit him a couple of times with his fists’ before Furcal left in the Ford pickup. The truck driver said in a May 1 interview with police that he needed five stitches in his left hand, in addition to bruising on the right side of his body and left arm from the rocks.
Police were eventually able to identify Furcal through vehicle registration records tied to a business registered at Furcal’s home address in Weston, Florida. Video surveillance footage of Furcal’s pickup truck in the parking lot and a positive photo lineup identification by the truck driver also helped the police investigation. An arrest warrant was issued for Furcal on Monday.
Furcal played 14 seasons in the majors with the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins.
He won the National League Rookie of the Year award with Atlanta in 2000 and was on the roster for the Cardinals when they won the World Series in 2011. Furcal was arrested in 2000 and 2004 while playing for the Braves for drunk driving, spending 21 days in jail after the latter for violating his probation.
