Phillies' Odubel Herrera Arrested At Golden Nugget Hotel And Casino For Allegedly Assaulting Girlfriend, Police Say
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera was arrested Monday for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend at an Atlantic City hotel and casino, police say. Herrera, 27, was taken into custody without incident at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino around 8:30 p.m. He has now been placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball.
Atlantic City police officers responded Monday night to the Golden Nugget for a domestic violence incident report.
When they arrived, they found a 20-year-old woman, of Philadelphia, with visible signs of injury to her arms and neck after allegedly being assaulted by Herrera.
The woman refused any medical attention.
Police located Herrera in his hotel room and he was arrested and charged with simple assault.
Herrera was released on a summons with a future court date.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak told reporters that they first learned of the incident Tuesday morning from the Atlantic City Police Department. After speaking to MLB, Herrera was placed on administrative leave, which lasts seven days, but can be extended.
"We're expecting to not have him for seven days and we'll see what happens from there," Klentak said.
Klentak said he and manager Gabe Kapler talked to Herrera who apologized during the conversation.
"No explanation but he did apologize," Klentak said.
Klentak said that it's "premature to speculate" if Herrera played his last game with the Phillies.
Manager Gabe Kapler held a meeting with the team following Herrera's arrest.
"Domestic violence is never acceptable and obviously we're not in the position to talk about the specific incident with Odubel, but we are able to talk about it more globally. It's unacceptable every time, I think it's an important enough issue where our players understood and our sensitive and aware enough that it's important to address as a group and open up a conversation," said Kapler.
He added that the Phillies worked with MLB to take Herrera off the All-Star ballot following the arrest.
Herrera has been with the Phillies since 2015 and was an All-Star in 2016. He's been struggling this season, hitting only .222 with a .629 OPS.
Herrera signed a five-year contract extension with the Phillies in 2016.
If you have any information about this incident, contact police at 609-347-5766.
