Content warning: This story includes descriptions of alleged domestic violence.
Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías is now facing five misdemeanor charges from his arrest outside BMO Stadium in September, according to The Athletic.
Urías was charged Tuesday with one count of spousal battery, two counts of domestic battery involving a dating relationship, one count of false imprisonment and one count of assault. He is due in court May 2 for his arraignment. TMZ first reported the charges against Urías on Tuesday.
Urías was arrested Sept. 3 when he was attending an LAFC game at BMO Stadium near downtown Los Angeles. Police said an altercation broke out between Urías and a woman in the parking lot. Urías, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s report, “engaged in an argument” with the woman and “pushed the victim against a fence and pulled her by the hair or shoulders.”
Urías was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence at the time, but the county declined to file felony charges in January.
Two days after his arrest, MLB placed Urías on administrative leave. The Dodgers then quickly cleaned out his locker, covered up a mural of him at the stadium and canceled a planned Urías bobblehead night. MLB is still investigating the incident.
Urías is now a free agent. He held a 4.60 ERA last season, his worst since 2017, in more than 117 innings pitched. He was on pace for a nine-figure contract after he helped the Dodgers win a World Series title in 2020 and led the NL with a 2.16 ERA in 2022.
The incident in September marked the second domestic violence issue Urías has had since entering the league. He served a 20-game suspension in 2019 after he allegedly pushed a woman to the ground in a parking lot. He was not charged criminally in that incident, but the league still suspended him.
No player has been suspended twice under the league’s domestic violence policy, which was put in place in 2015. If MLB hands down a suspension in this case, Urías would be just the fourth player suspended under the policy as a free agent, and the suspension would follow him to his next team.
