L.A. Dodgers star Yasiel Puig charged with reckless driving

[December 30, 2013]  MIAMI (Reuters) — Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Yasiel Puig was arrested on Saturday after he was caught driving 110 miles per hour in a 70-mph (112-kph) zone in Florida, a highway patrol spokesman said.

Puig, 23, who defected last year from his native Cuba, was handcuffed and taken to a jail in Naples, Florida, after his white 2013 Mercedes was pulled over, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lieutenant Greg Bueno.

Puig was traveling with two family members and a friend when he was stopped at 9:30 a.m. on Interstate 75, Bueno said. Puig was charged with reckless driving.

It was Puig's second arrest this year in connection with speeding. In April, Puig was arrested in Tennessee on charges of reckless driving, driving without proof of insurance and speeding.

The charges were later dropped after he performed community service.

Puig in his first Major League Baseball season hit .319 in 2013 with 19 home runs and 42 runs batted in, joining the Dodgers in June and playing 104 games. He finished second to Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez in National League Rookie of the Year voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

(Reporting by Kevin Gray; editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Peter Cooney)

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