Las Vegas 51s (Mets’ Triple-A affiliate) pitcher Logan Taylor was reportedly attacked by a homeless man carrying a tire iron and a sock full of rocks on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City police detective Greg Wilking told the Las Vegas Review Journal that Taylor was walking down the street, when a homeless man demanded Taylor’s wallet and “subsequently hit Taylor over the back of his head with the tire iron.”
The 25-year-old Taylor was taken to a Salt Lake City hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and “had to have six or seven staples put in the back of his head.”
33-year-old Joshua Cruz was arrested in relation to the attack, and charged with aggravated robbery and failure to stop at command of law enforcement.
The incident was witnessed by two of Taylor’s teammates, Dom Smith and Kevin McGowan, as 51s manager Pedro Lopez explained to the Review-Journal:
“There were a couple guys that saw it, Dom (Smith) and (Kevin) McGowan,” Lopez said, referring to Taylor’s teammates. “They tried to go after the guy when they realized it was Logan, but (the police) ended up catching the guy later on,” Lopez said.
After hitting Taylor, the man fled on foot. Cruz was apprehended by the police in the area, Wilking said.
“At the very time the call was coming in, an officer that was right in the area was flagged down by people, and he tried to run away,” Wilking said. “He was chased. He was told to drop the items he had, and then he turned around on the officer, and that’s when another officer came on the scene and they used a Taser to take him into custody.”
Taylor was placed on the disabled list, but “was in good enough condition that he was able to be with the team at the ballpark.”
[Las Vegas Review-Journal; Photo Credit: MetsMinors.Net]
