Las Vegas police: Ball player Canseco person of interest in sex assault
Controversial baseball player Jose Canseco is a suspect in a sexual assault in Las Vegas, police confirmed Wednesday.
The 48-year-old minor league ballplayer and admitted steroid user posted the accusations on his Twitter account Wednesday morning.
Las Vegas police said Canseco, who lives in the city, has agreed to an interview with detectives, although that hadn’t happened as of Wednesday. He has not been arrested or charged.
Canseco also posted the name, phone number, place of work and address of a woman he identified as his accuser and offered to take a polygraph test.
“All media welcome to this drama filled event. Did i rape (the woman) or is she lieing,” he wrote. “Stay tuned to another day in the life of jose canseco.”
Police did not reveal the circumstances of their investigation. The woman named by Canseco did not respond to an interview request.
The 1988 American League Most Valuable Player hit 462 home runs during a major league career from 1985 to 2001. He currently plays for and coaches the minor league Fort Worth (Texas) Cats.
In 2005, Canseco regained notoriety after he penned a tell-all book about steroids in baseball. Although dismissed at the time, it proved to be mostly accurate in terms of the scale of steroid use in baseball.
This isn’t Canseco’s first run-in with law enforcement. In 1989, during the peak of his career, the slugger was arrested in Florida for reckless driving after police said he led them on a 15-mile chase. Later that year, he was arrested in California on allegations that he was driving with a loaded gun in his car.
In 1992, Canseco was charged with aggravated battery in Miami when his wife accused him of ramming her BMW with his Porsche. Five years later, he was arrested in Miami and accused of hitting another wife.
He has also faced charges for his use of steroids. In 2008, he was charged with bringing a fertility drug into the U.S. from Mexico. The drug was part of his steroid treatment. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year of probation.
Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Follow @blasky on Twitter.