Ex-Mets Star Lenny Dykstra Charged With Grand Theft Auto & Drug Possession
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- Where former 1986 Mets star Lenny Dykstra goes, bad news seems to follow.
The former outfielder was jailed Monday on grand theft auto and drug possession charges after being accused of using phony information to lease a car from a Southern California dealership.
Dykstra, 48, was charged with 25 misdemeanor and felony counts of grand theft auto, attempted grand theft auto, identity theft and other crimes, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. He faces up to 12 years in state prison if convicted.
Dykstra was taken into custody during a hearing in San Fernando Superior Court on the new charges. He was jailed on $500,000 bail with a bail-review hearing set for Friday.
His accountant and a friend were charged in connection with the alleged auto theft but not with drug crimes, Robison said.
All three men are scheduled to be arraigned June 16.
Prosecutors contend that the three men tried to lease high-end cars from dealers this year by providing phony information and claiming credit through a phony business called Home Free Systems.
Two dealerships rejected the lease applications but a third allowed the men to drive off with three cars, according to a statement from the district attorney's office.
Police who arrested Dykstra on April 14 found cocaine, Ecstasy and the synthetic human growth hormone Somatropin at his San Fernando Valley home, the statement said.
Robison said Dykstra had not obtained a lawyer to represent him in the case.
Dykstra was also arrested this April in a federal case where he was accused of embezzling money from a bankruptcy estate. He later posted $150,000 bond.
Criminal charges aside, it's been a rough 2011 for "Nails."
Dykstra also made headlines in April stemming from an alleged naked massage endeavor while interviewing a housekeeper.
Last month, former teammate and current "Celebrity Rehab" cast member Dwight Gooden detailed Dykstra's attempt to "rescue" him from Dr. Drew Pinsky's sober house.
"I'll tell you what, it was crazy," Gooden told WFAN's Boomer & Carton. "He thought that I had been hypnotized and (Dr. Drew) got me in there and was holding me hostage. He tried to come in with two guys to get me out of there."
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