Baltimore Orioles reliever Alfredo Simon is the main suspect in a fatal shooting on New Year’s Eve in the Dominican Republic, police said on Sunday.
The pitcher is suspected of killing 25-year-old Michel Castillo Almonte and wounding his 17-year-old brother during a celebration in the northeast coastal town of Luperon, Dominican Republic, police said in a statement.
No motive was disclosed. Simon is from the Dominican Republic and police said he fled after the violence.
Felipe Alou Jr, a Dominican representative for the Orioles, said he spoke with Simon on Saturday and the player said he was in the area when the violence took place, but insisted he was not involved in the shootings.
“He says to us that the wounded man can confirm that he was not the one who fired,” Alou said.
The injured teenager was shot in the right arm and remains hospitalized in the Dominican city of Santiago.
Simon has hired a Dominican lawyer, Alou said, but did not give the name.
Police major Pablo Cuevas said he believes Simon is hiding in Santiago, where he was born. He was confident the player would surrender to authorities yesterday. Simon could face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.
The 29-year-old pitcher joined Baltimore in 2008, but was quickly sidelined with an injury. He went 4-2 with a 4.93 ERA last season.
He had 17 saves before Orioles manager Buck Showalter decided to make Koji Uehara the closer.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was