Ex-All-Star Shortstop Omar Vizquel charged with domestic violence

Omar Vizquel has been accused of domestic abuse by his wife, Blanca, who alleged multiple cases of physical violence by former star Shortstop in a report released Wednesday by The Athletic.

Blanca Vizquel, 36, told The Athletic Her husband physically abused her in 2011 – before they were married in 2014 – and in 2016. She also described a heated argument with her husband last August when she decided to leave him and initiate divorce proceedings.

Vizquel emphatically denied the allegations in a Declaration made on Wednesday eveningand said: “I have never hit or violated my wife Blanca. Any accusation to the contrary is false.”

He added, “I never expected this divorce to go public, but I will continue to defend myself and my name against these false allegations. Our divorce should be decided in a court of law, not a court of public opinion.” “”

Earlier, when asked about his wife’s allegations, Vizquel told The Athletic, “I have nothing to say. This is a divorce and I know it’s really pissed off. There are a lot of things that are said about things. ” supposedly it happens behind closed doors, you know. I don’t have anything to say about that either. It’s just a divorce. “

The 53-year-old Vizquel is also being investigated by Major League Baseball, who interviewed Blanca and are investigating a 2019 clubhouse incident when Omar was the manager of the Chicago White Sox’s Double-A subsidiary, the Birmingham Barons, according to The Athletic.

“Although Omar Vizquel has not been employed by a major league organization for some time, we are aware of the allegations and will continue to investigate them,” MLB said in a statement to The Athletic.

Blanca Vizquel’s first public allegation of domestic abuse came in an Instagram Live video on October 7th. Omar at the time denied beating Blanca, saying his wife had decided to leave him and the couple were in the process of divorce.

Omar Vizquel was taken into police custody in 2016 following an incident at the couple’s Seattle home in Sammamish, Washington, according to The Athletic. Blanca Vizquel told police that her husband pushed her during an argument, causing her to fall, injuring her shin and breaking several fingernails.

Blanca Vizquel called a neighbor who notified the King County sheriff’s office. Omar Vizquel was booked and jailed for fourth degree domestic violence, but Blanca Vizquel later asked the Sammamish prosecutor to drop the charges against her husband, according to The Athletic.

In a letter to prosecutors, Bianca Vizquel denied the official police record of the alleged incident, saying she wanted to resolve her marital problems with her husband. However, she told The Athletic that Omar Vizquel forced her to sign the letter and threatened financial retaliation.

in the an interview with the Venezuelan news agency La PatillaOmar Vizquel denied attempting to force Blanca to sign the letter.

The athlete also described an incident in December 2011 when Omar Vizquel allegedly strangled his wife during an argument at the home of Blanca’s sister in Alabama.

Blanca Vizquel’s sister, Nelly Metler, wrote in a testimony: “We saw him on her, his elbows on her throat, her arms on the bed, she screamed and told him to let me go.” after The Athletic.

Omar Vizquel called the police and accused his wife of scratching him, which she denied. He told The Athletic that her husband “was obviously stronger, stronger than me, I was trying to get rid of him”.

Omar and Blanca Vizquel both signed affidavits affirming that “we have lost control of ourselves, which has resulted in physical contact between us.” Both of them individually said they did not want the incident to lead to criminal charges, according to The Athletic.

According to The Athletic, the couple eventually filed a joint motion to dismiss all charges resulting from the incident and the motion was granted.

Blanca Vizquel told The Athletic that the August 2020 incident was a heated argument but it failed to indicate that Omar physically abused her. She said she “made a decision to leave the house and not come back. I didn’t want to feel that feeling when you didn’t know if you were safe.”

Omar Vizquel was a three-time All-Star and eleven-time Gold Glove shortstop currently on the Hall of Ballot during his 24-year career with the majors of the Mariners, Indians, Giants, Rangers, White Sox and Blue Jays from 1989 to 2012 Fame.