Ex-Phillies star Lenny Dykstra arrested, accused of threatening to kill Uber driver

Former Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra was arrested in North Jersey early Wednesday morning after allegedly threatening to kill an Uber driver.

A 47-year-old Uber driver from Roselle, N.J., told police that Dykstra became agitated when he denied the former baseball star’s request to change his destination in the middle of his route. The driver said Dykstra pulled out a gun, placed it next to his head, and threatened to kill him.

According to police, the driver honked his horn repeatedly until he came to an abrupt stop in front of police headquarters in Linden, N.J. The driver then fled the vehicle, where officers found Dykstra.

Officers didn’t find a gun, but said Dykstra was in possession of cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana when police took him into custody about 3:30 a.m., authorities said. Dykstra was charged with making terroristic threats and various drug offenses. He was released on his own recognizance pending a scheduled appearance next month in Union County Superior Court in Elizabeth.

Dykstra denied the Uber driver’s claims, telling the New York Daily News the driver took him hostage during the ride.

“The guy went nuclear on me,” Dykstra said, saying the operator kidnapped him, drove 100 mph, and locked him in the vehicle.

On Twitter, Dykstra posted his mugshot and Taylor Swift lyrics.

There have definitely been worse-looking mugshots.

— Lenny Dykstra (@LennyDykstra) May 23, 2018

In 2012, Dykstra served a six-and-a-half-month sentence in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud and other charges. Last August, he was accused of sexual harassment on the set of Fox News by Caroline Heldman, an Occidental College politics professor. Heldman told the Inquirer and Daily News last year that Dykstra “seemed high” during the encounter, which Dykstra said he couldn’t remember.

“She’s just one of many, dude. She got to get on the space shuttle,” Dykstra said, adding that he found political talk from an attractive woman “sexually arousing.”

Dykstra has said he was attempting to get his life in order in recent years. In an interview with my colleague Frank Fitzpatrick last June, the former All-Star opened up about his addictions to money, sex, and drugs and the toll they had taken.

“My first chapter couldn’t have gone better,” Dykstra said, “the big leagues and the money. The second chapter, that was rough. My third chapter hasn’t been written yet. I still haven’t decided what my epitaph’s going to be.”