NEW YORK -- A Mets minor leaguer was arrested Sunday for felony shoplifting, resisting a merchant, battery and resisting an officer without violence.
Alex Luciano Machillanda Romero, 21, of the Gulf Coast League Mets, is accused of stealing clothes from a St. Lucie, Fla., department store, punching the store officer who confronted him and slamming his head to the concrete, fleeing the scene and yelling at and pulling away from the police officers who eventually apprehended him.
The stolen property was found in Machillanda's backpack.
A spokesman for the Mets said the team does not comment on legal matters.
Machillanda, a native of Venezuela, has played in eight games for the GCL Mets this season, seven at catcher and one at DH. He was batting .357 (10-for-28) with no homers and two RBIs.
