Former Mets and Phillies star Lenny Dykstra was jailed Monday on grand theft auto and drug-possession charges after being accused of using bogus information to lease a car from a Southern California dealership. The New York Times has the rest of the details.
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.
His accountant and a friend were charged in connection with the suspected auto theft but not with drug crimes, Robison said.
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.
According to the report, the police who arrested Dykstra found cocaine, Ecstasy and synthetic human growth hormone Somatropin at his San Fernando home on April 14.
Just to be clear, these charges are separate from his arrest for bankruptcy fraud. How this guy has avoided jail time up to this point is one of the greater mysteries of our society.
