Ex-MLB star Lenny Dykstra charged with drug possession, awaits preliminary hearing
Dykstra was arrested Friday on suspicion of possessing narcotics and narcotic-related equipment but was not taken into custody, per police.
Former MLB star Lenny Dykstra was charged with a misdemeanor of illegal possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia on Monday following a traffic stop just after midnight in northeastern Pennsylvania on New Year’s Day, according to Pike County (Pa.) District Court records.
Dykstra, 62, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of possessing narcotics and narcotic-related equipment but was not taken into custody, trooper Kody Nowicki told The Athletic. Dykstra was a passenger in a 2015 GMC Sierra truck that was pulled over due to a motor vehicle code violation in Pike County, according to state police records. The traffic stop took place about 25 miles east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.
The driver of the vehicle was unidentified.
Dykstra’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. (ET).
“Lenny Dykstra was merely a passenger in a vehicle that did not belong to him,” said Matthew Blit, Dykstra’s attorney, in a statement on X. “Undeniably, the actual driver and owner was taken into custody at the scene under the suspicion of driving under the influence. Lenny was not accused of being under the influence of any substance at the scene, nor was he arrested or taken into custody at the scene. To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved.”
Blit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dykstra was drafted by the New York Mets in 1981 and quickly became a minor-league star in the Carolina League. He was promoted to the majors in 1985, and he earned the nickname “Nails” for his hard-nosed personality and fearless play.
Dykstra was part of the Mets’ 1986 World Series championship team.
He was traded to the Phillies in 1989 and stayed in Philadelphia through myriad injuries. He played his final game in 1996 and retired after a 12-year career in 1998.
Dykstra was a three-time All-Star with the Phillies, including earning the 1993 Silver Slugger Award. He led the National League twice in hits (1990, 1993), once in runs (1993) and once in on-base percentage (1990).
Dykstra spent years as a businessman before dealing with a series of legal woes. In 2009, he founded a high-end jet charter company and magazine, marketed to professional athletes, and seven years later, Dykstra announced a partnership with a credit referral company.
Dykstra also had run-ins with the law, though.
Dykstra served time in a California federal prison for bankruptcy fraud and was sentenced to more than six months for hiding baseball gloves and other items from his professional playing days. That prison term ran simultaneously with a three-year sentence after he pleaded no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. Dykstra claimed he had $50,000 in assets and owed $31 million.