Ultra-disturbing video emerges from pro baseball player's past, gets him cut
Danry Vasquez, a 24-year-old outfielder from Venezuela, was playing for the Houston Astros’ Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks, in 2016 when he was arrested on domestic violence charges.
He stood accused of beating up his girlfriend in a stairwell at the Hooks stadium.
Despite the fact that there was video of the brutal incident shot from a security camera in the stairwell, the case was weakened by the fact that the victim didn’t want to cooperate with prosecutors, District Attorney Mark Gonzalez of Nueces County, Texas, told TMZ Sports.
Vasquez was released on bond, and then made a plea deal with Gonzalez’s office. The case was formally dismissed March 6.
“At that point, probation checked with us, and he had done everything we asked him to do, so I was forced to dismiss the case,” Gonzalez told KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi.
Still, the outfielder was released by the Hooks soon after incident happened.
Vasquez played in Venezuela last year before joining the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League.
On Tuesday, two years after the domestic violence incident, the video footage was made public — and it’s even worse than you might imagine.
Vasquez can be seen repeatedly striking the woman before dragging her down the stairs — and then hitting her again.
After the video was published, he was released by his Pennsylvania minor league team.
“Upon being made aware of the nature of the incident, the Barnstormers made a prompt decision to cut ties with the 24-year-old outfielder,” the team said in a statement.
BARNSTORMERS RELEASE DANRY VASQUEZ
The Lancaster Barnstormers have released outfielder Danry Vasquez, it has… https://t.co/wOTo1eTotL
— Lancaster Stormers (@Lancstormers) March 14, 2018
“There is no choice but to sever the relationship,” said Lancaster manager Ross Peeples. “Neither I, nor the Barnstormers’ organization as a whole, can condone or associate with that behavior.”
Of course, the “nature of the incident” has been known since it happened; it’s the video that led the team to take action.
The case is reminiscent of that of former Baltimore Raven Ray Rice, who was arrested and charged with assault in 2014 after striking his then-fiance (now wife) in the elevator of an Atlantic City, New Jersey, casino.
The team initially defended the star running back and said he was part of its plans going forward. But after video of the incident was released, drawing national outrage, the Ravens released Rice. That was the end of his career.
It seems likely that Vasquez is facing the same fate.
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