A player for the Atlanta Braves was taken into police custody after a dispute with a woman at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday.
Few details were immediately available but police said they received a call just before 7 a.m. Wednesday. When they arrived at the 1200 block of Hayes Street, a woman told police she had been assaulted by Hector Olivera.
Ashley Savage, an Arlington County police spokeswoman, said the woman had “visible bruising.” The victim was taken to an area hospital. Her condition was not immediately known.
Savage said Olivera was “on the scene” when police arrived.
“He has been taken into police custody,” she said. He has not been charged at this time and could see a magistrate “at some point” Wednesday.
Savage said Olivera and the woman are “known to one another,” although she said she did not know “what the status of the relationship is.”
ABC7 was among the first outlets to report on the incident. The Braves are in town to play a four-game series with the Washington Nationals.
Under its Joint Domestic Violence Policy, Major League Baseball placed Olivera, a relief pitcher, on administrative leave Wednesday, and Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office began an investigation into the incident, an MLB spokesman said.
In a statement, the Braves said the team is “extremely disappointed and troubled to learn of the allegations involving Hector Olivera.”
“We will continue to gather information and will address this matter appropriately as we determine the facts,” the statement continued.
Olivera, an outfielder, becomes the latest case for MLB’s domestic violence policy, which went into effect last August. Under the policy, Manfred possesses broad power to discipline players even without a conviction or charge.
New York Yankees closer Arolids Chapman is serving a 30-game suspension after an MLB investigation confirmed that he had fired a gun in the garage of his Florida home during an argument with his girlfriend. Chapman was not criminally charged and, in a statement, said he “did not in any way harm my girlfriend that evening” but said he should have “exercised better judgment”
MLB placed Colorado Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes on paid leave in February following on offseason arrest for allegedly assaulting his wife at a Hawaii hotel. Charges have since been dropped because Reyes’s wife refused to cooperate with prosecutors.
