Former major leaguer Reardon arrested on robbery charges
Reardon charged with armed robbery
Former Boston Red Sox hurler Reardon arrested on robbery charges
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -— Former major league pitcher Jeff Reardon was arrested Monday on charges he robbed a jewelry store.
Reardon, 50, walked into Hamilton Jewelers at the Gardens Mall about 11:50 a.m. Monday and handed an employee a note that said he had a gun and the store was being robbed, according to the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department.
Reardon fled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police found him at a nearby restaurant, recovered the stolen money and charged him with armed robbery.
That would not seem to mesh with all of this:
The four-time All-Star was 73-77 with 367 saves and a 3.16 ERA in 16 seasons with the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins.
Of course, there could be a perfectly logical explanation to all of this, but I’m not certain that this is it:
“He said it was the medication that made him do it and that he was sorry,” O’Neill said.
According to the arrest report cited in the Palm Beach Post, Reardon told police: “I am taking medication and am sorry for what happened … I completely lost my mind and tried to rob (a) jewelry store. I flipped on my medications and didn’t realize what I was doing.”
O’Neill said Reardon has lived in the city for more than 20 years and has never caused any problems.
Reardon’s attorney, Mitchell Beers, said that Reardon had taken antidepressants since his son’s death in early 2004. In addition, he had taken additional medication after surgery last week.
“He asked me to apologize to his fans and friends,” Beers said. “This bizarre incident is completely uncharacteristic of Jeff Reardon.”
I would hope so…. I would imagine that there is much more to this story than has been released so far, and I’m guessing what we currently do not know promises to be even wierder than what we currently do know. Why a man who made over $11 million in his career, and has no known financial problems, would rob a jewelry store on what would seem a whim is difficult to fathom.
For now, Reardon certainly qualifies as a DUMB@$$, for the simple fact that committing a felony seems like overkill if it was cry for help. Or perhaps he was just bored. Living in Florida with too much time on your hands can do that, I suppose. Perhaps Reardon might want to give come thought to taking up golf?
