The estranged wife of Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna told cops the MLB star threatened to kill her during a heated argument about infidelity, court documents show.
Ozuna, 30, was arrested Saturday after responding cops in Sandy Springs, Ga., said they saw him grab his wife, Genesis, by the neck and throw her against a wall. Police said the outfielder also hit his spouse with a cast on his injured left hand before being taken into custody on charges of battery and aggravated assault by strangulation.
Ozuna’s wife told police she was showering when he entered a bathroom and grabbed both of her cellphones, refusing to give them back as she confronted him, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by WSB-TV.
“He threatened to kill her and she threatened to call 911,” the document states. “She took his cellphone from a table and called 911.”
Ozuna then left the home with his wife’s cellphones as she chased him around the property, according to the report. The Dominican Republic native told his wife in Spanish at one point that he was “not going to hit her harder” because cops were already headed to the residence, according to the affidavit.
Ozuna’s wife managed to get back inside the home and locked the door while calling police. She grabbed a “large kitchen knife” and told Ozuna that she was “going to hurt him” if he got any closer, WSB-TV reported.
Ozuna’s wife said she feared for her life during the alleged attack, citing his prior “aggressive behavior” and alleged physical abuse, the affidavit states.
As the couple struggled over the phones, Ozuna used the “hard cast” on his left hand and forearm to hit his wife before choking her, she told police.
“Victim stated that said accused grabbed her by the throat by wrapping his fingers around [her neck],” an investigator wrote in the affidavit. “He then held her up against the wall, preventing her from breathing.”
Ozuna’s wife had visible injuries, but she was not taken to a hospital, police said.
Ozuna, who was already on the disabled list after dislocating two fingers last week, spent two days in jail before being released Monday on $20,000 bond, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Terms of Ozuna’s bond allow him to travel out of state, but his status with the Braves remains unclear, the newspaper reported. Messages seeking comment from team and MLB officials were not immediately returned Tuesday.
The Braves said in a statement Saturday the team “fully supports” the league’s policy on domestic violence.
Ozuna, who re-signed with the Braves in February to a four-year $65 million deal after a league-leading 18 homers in 2020, was ordered by a judge not to contact his wife outside their kids during his initial court appearance Monday, the Journal-Constitution reported. He was not ordered to wear an ankle monitor.
Ozuna’s attorney, Lars Anderson, said the couple is in the process of divorcing. The MLB star is living at the Sandy Springs rental home as Genesis Ozuna stays in Miami with their children, the newspaper reported.
Anderson referenced “events preceding” Saturday’s arrest while claiming more facts would come to light in the domestic violence investigation, according to the report.
Ozuna’s estranged wife was visiting him in the Atlanta suburb when the alleged attack took place, Anderson said.
“At best, it is described as a toxic relationship,” Anderson said in court of the couple.
Genesis Ozuna was arrested in Miami last June for allegedly hitting her husband with a soap dish, cutting his eye. Her attorney said in court Monday that the case had been dismissed, the Journal-Constitution reported.
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