Former Major League Baseball player and Yankee Jim Leyritz, 44, was arrested Friday — a day after his birthday — on charges of driving under the influence and killing a 30 year-old woman driver after his vehicle crashed into hers. The mother of two children was ejected from her 2000 Mitsubishi Montero and was transported by paramedics to Broward General Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
Jim Leyritz drove his 2006 Ford Expedition through a red light, and in a T-bone collision at Southwest Second Street and Southwest Seventh Avenue in Fort Lauderdale [MAP/SAT], hit and flipped the Montero driven by Fredia Ann Veitch of Plantation, Florida. Leyritz failed a police roadside field-sobriety exercises like walking and touching his finger to his nose, and he refused to take a Breathalyzer test. A police report describes the following: Leyritz had “red, watery eyes, flushed face and the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person.”
Following news of the death of Fredia Ann Veitch, Leyritz was charged with driving under the influence, manslaughter and D.U.I. property damage. He was uncooperative, according to the police, and did not have his blood taken until 6:10 a.m., and then again at 7:12 a.m., at Broward General Medical Center.
Leyritz stopped playing major league baseball in 2000, but re-entered the spotlight in 2006 when he admitted in separate radio interviews that he took amphetamines and human growth hormone. During an interview on the “Opie & Anthony” show on XM Radio, Leyritz said that the event that led to his first time taking an amphetamine was the day after he had a late night, drinking with teammates. Hung over and sleeping by his locker, Leyritz learned he was starting instead of Don Mattingly. He tracked down a player he knew that was using amphetamines to obtain amphetamines for his own use.
In a New York Post article, Leyritz admitted using human Growth Hormone (hGH) while recovering from surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff between the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
Keywords: Freida Ann Veitch, Frieda Ann Veitch