Lenny Dykstra pleads guilty to disorderly conduct in Uber incident, other charges dropped
The saga of Lenny Dykstra’s strange, disturbing Uber ride has come to an end. According to NJ.com, the former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies star pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct in a New Jersey court on Friday, while the greater charges of drug possession and making terroristic threats were dropped. Dykstra will serve no jail time, but is responsible for paying fees and fines.
All the charges stemmed from a May 2018 Uber ride that ended with Dykstra being arrested. According to Sam Lutty, the driver of the Uber, Dykstra became enraged when he asked to change destinations and Lutty refused. Lutty claimed that Dykstra pressed a weapon to his head and threatened to kill him. Lutty drove to a local police station, and officers found no weapon among Dykstra’s possessions but did find cocaine and methamphetamine. He was then arrested.
Several weeks later, Dykstra gave his version of events. He claims that after he asked Lutty to take a different route to Staten Island, Lutty locked the doors to the car and started driving erratically, effectively kidnapping him. Dykstra filed a countersuit against the driver, and his lawyers provided phone records that showed several calls from Dykstra’s number to 911.
Dykstra’s lawyer, David Bahuriak, mounted quite a case on behalf of his client. He argued that the search of Dykstra’s belongings was illegal because police didn’t have Dykstra’s consent to search his belongings, they had failed to advise Dykstra that he had the option to refuse, and had conducted the search after he’d been taken away.
After the hearing, Dykstra thanked his friend, Passaic, New Jersey pawn shop owner Daniel Risis, for his emotional and financial support during the ordeal.
Lenny wasn’t all smiles, though. He told NJ.com that the incident “cost me potentially millions of dollars in all kinds of things.” Dykstra claimed that he had been working with Amazon to develop a reality TV show, but his arrest caused Amazon to drop him.
Dykstra will have to appear in court later this month over allegations that he’s been running an illegal rooming house out of his home in Linden, New Jersey. His countersuit against Lutty is still pending.
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