Former MLB player Lenny Dykstra arrested in Linden for allegedly threatening Uber driver

UPDATE: Lenny Dykstra arrest: 'Take me to Staten Island or I'll blow your (expletive) head off'

LINDEN — Lenny Dykstra, the former All-Star Major League Baseball player who played for the Phillies and the Mets, has been charged after allegedly threatening an Uber driver early Wednesday morning.

Dykstra, 55, was arrested outside Linden Police Headquarters just before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday when police officers were alerted to a vehicle that sped into the attached parking garage.

The driver, identified as a 47-year-old Roselle resident, was beeping the horn repeatedly until he came to an abrupt stop in front of headquarters.

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The driver ran from the car and told the officers that moments earlier he had picked up Dykstra in Linden for a scheduled fare. Dykstra tried to change the destination, and when the driver refused, Dykstra allegedly put a weapon to his head and threatened to kill him, police said.

No weapon was located, but police said they did recover a quantity of cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among Dykstra’s belongings.

Dykstra is charged with third-degree making terroristic threats, third degree charges for possession of cocaine and MDMA and disorderly persons charges for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was released on a summons pending a June 8 Union County Superior Court appearance, police said.

Wednesday's arrest is the latest episode in a long string of encounters Dykstra had with the law.

Dykstra, known as "Nails" for his aggressive approach on the ballfield, reached the pinnacle of his career when the New York Mets won the World Series in 1986. The Mets traded him to the Phillies three years later. He played for the Phillies until his retirement in 1996.

When he stopped playing, Dkystra brought his aggressive and sometimes reckless lifestyle to his varied business dealings in Southern California.

He invested in car washes, car service centers, jet charters and gained a reputation for being an expert stock picker, even appearing on television business shows. He bought Wayne Gretsky's suburban Los Angeles estate for $18 million.

Reports say at one time he was worth $58 million.

But everything crumbled when the recession struck and he filed for bankruptcy. Reports say he was even forced to sell his World Series ring to help pay off $31 million in debt. Federal prosecutors said that after filing, Dykstra hid, sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items from the mansion without permission of a bankruptcy trustee.

In 2012 Dykstra was sentenced to three years in a California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. Dykstra had initially pleaded not guilty to 25 counts after police arrested him and found cocaine. He changed his plea in to no contest and in exchange prosecutors dropped 21 counts.

He was also charged in Los Angeles with indecent exposure to a woman he had met on Craigslist.

Dyskstra had also been named in Major League Baseball's Mitchell Report as a steroid user during his playing career.

In a July 2017 Philadelphia Inquirer story, Dykstra said he had purchased a Linden fixer-upper a friend helped him get through a short sale. That story also mentioned his interest in pursuing a special Uber business plan.

Last Saturday Dykstra was scheduled to appear with fellow 1986 Mets star Dwight Gooden at a sports expo in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Fans could get his autograph for $25 and a picture with him for $20, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported.

He has also written a book, "House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge."

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607;mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com