Belle arrested in Arizona
Friday, February 17, 2006
Associated Press
Scottsdale, Arizona.- Former Indians star Albert Belle was arrested Thursday and charged with stalking his former girlfriend, police said.
Scottsdale police said the 39-year-old Belle was taken into custody after a former girlfriend told officers that he had stalked her.
Belle was being held without bond at the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix, according to a county sheriff's department spokesman.
A five-time All-Star outfielder, Belle hit 381 career home runs in a 12-year big-league career that began with the Indians in 1989. He also played for the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore before retiring in 2000 after his second season with the Orioles.
The volatile Belle often ran into trouble on and off the field during his playing days.
He was fined in 1994 for using a corked bat and suspended after instigating a brawl by elbowing an opposing player. In 1991, he threw a baseball into the chest of a fan taunting him. Years later, he tossed a ball at a photographer.
Belle, who has lived in Arizona for several years, was arrested on a DUI charge here in September 2002.