Former Yank Jim Leyritz Threatened Suicide: Police

Ex-catcher thought of death as an escape as his DUI manslaughter trial looms

Ex-New York Yankee Jim Leyritz threatened to commit suicide early this week, authorities said Thursday.

Leyritz was in Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines on Thursday, taken there by a Davie police officer after he called a relative in New Jersey threatening suicide, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Leyritz is currently awaiting trial on DUI manslaughter after he allegedly was driving drunk on his birthday in December 2007 and rammed his SUV into a car driven by a Fort Lauderdale bartender. Leyritz's blood-alcohol level was well above the state's .08 legal limit for driving.
 
If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison, but Leyritz has had a roller coaster ride leading up to his trial.
 
It all came to a head Wednesday night, according to police, when Leyritz became upset because a court-ordered monitoring device installed in his car to monitor if he had been drinking would not let his car start.

That’s when he called a relative. Listen to the call.
 
Davie police spokesman Bill Coyne said Leyritz told police he was having trouble sleeping, was anxious and may need medical attention. A police report stated police did not suspect Leyritz was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but they took him to the hospital for psychiatric attention.
 
Even after the fatal accident and his arrest, Leyritz could not stay away from the bottle. He drove after drinking despite being told by a judge not to touch alcohol.

Leyritz on at least four occasions had driven after drinking between September 2008 and February of this year, forcing prosecutors to ask a judge to revoke his bond. Leyritz was jailed for five days, but then released on a technicality.
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