Dominican Republic newspaper
El Nacional is reporting that Juan Uribe is wanted in connection with a shooting of an Italian naval officer and another man Friday night. The motive? They were
passing by (not standing by, as the translation says) Uribe's SUV.
At least that's what
Babelfish's translation is telling me. Babelfish also tells me that Uribe is a member of the Average White and had 71 races pushed in this year, so hopefully this is all a mistake. However,
this wouldn't be the first time this sort of thing has happened.
Further bulletins as events warrant. Thanks to
SoxTalk.
Update: 11/22/06: Judges have given Antonio Gonzalez Perez
10 days to present evidence that Uribe was responsible for the shooting, because the DA can't find anything on which to base charges against the Sox shortstop. If Perez doesn't meet the deadline, prosecutors will drop the case.
Juan sounds confident:
Uribe reported Tuesday to the clubhouse of his Dominican winter
league team, the Escogido Lions, saying he was pleased with the
decision.
"I feel very happy because finally this is coming to an end. I am already relaxed and so I am here ready to get started."
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Update: 10/25/06: Finally, some more news. Mark Gonzalez of the Tribune reports that a ballistics test that could clear Uribe
is currently under way.
Uribe seemed glad to hand his gun over to authorities, and has maintained that the shots wouldn't match up. We'll see.
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Update: 10/18/06: Yup,
extortion is what Uribe is claiming. Some quotes:
"I'm completely innocent. They're trying
to extort me because they know I play in the Major Leagues. They sent
word to me that if I give them 1,000,000 pesos [about 33,000 U.S.
dollars], all of this will go away."
And in response to Perez's lawyer suggesting Perez try to implicate Uribe for money:
"Not only that, but during questioning on Tuesday,
the Italian admitted that I wasn't there when the shots were fired. The
authorities have my gun for ballistics tests that will prove I didn't
do it."
Related
to this unsettled issue is another one -- his alibi. District attorney
Robert Lugo said Uribe and his lawyers said he was 40 miles away from
the scene of the crime, but Uribe said that he was in his house just
outside the scene. Before the shooting occured, he left his house to
tell Perez to stop banging on a public telephone close to his car. I'm
not sure why the DA would lie outright, but it's possible.
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Update 10/17/06: Uribe appeared in court,
so at least if there was a sort of standoff between Uribe and the
police, it's over. He's still a suspect, and he shoved a cameraman,
which probably isn't the smartest move. Doesn't sound like he did any
damage along the lines of Kenny Rogers and Dennis Rodman -- even though
the latter incident was faked heavily by the "victim." Uribe maintains
he wasn't anywhere near the scene, but the farmer who was shot, Antonio
Gonzalez Perez, insists it was a Uribe who got mad for no reason.
Kenny Williams is saying all the right things, especially in regards to the farmer's direct accusations:
"One thing that I have learned over the years is to be very careful to
jump to assumptions of one person pointing guilt at another person. It's particularly true when that particular person
being pointed at is the richest man in the room. That's why I've heard [White Sox manager] Ozzie [Guillen]
advise a lot of the guys down in that part of the world, in the Latin
American countries, to be very careful about their associates and the
security when they travel."
Perez already has a civil suit lined up, which may or may not help prove his point.
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Update 10/17/06: The
police disagree
with "Uribe's" assessment and issue a warrant for his arrest, saying
that he's never talked to the police. I'm not sure how Uribe's agent
can spin this in his client's favor now, because I don't see why the
Dominican police would single out Uribe.
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Update 10/16/06: Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune
reports that Uribe's agent informs everybody that Uribe says
"everything is fine and not to worry," which is slightly comforting.
Still, we're dealing with sketchy law enforcement and an even sketchier
media. Say what you will about the American press, but at least you
know what you're reading.