Ambiorix Burgos, the Mets reliever accused in a hit-and-run that killed two women in his native Dominican Republic, turned himself in on Wednesday. He better get used to the idea of wearing stripes -- whether he's eventually found guilty or not, a judge has confined him to jail for three months while awaiting trial. Oddly enough, Burgos has deluded himself into thinking this ordeal won't derail his big league career, which was already interrupted by missing all of the 2008 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. From the AP:
"I am going to come out of this fine because my conscience is clear, and I'm not worried this will affect my career because I haven't done anything," he said in the jailhouse interview.Burgos apparently doesn't believe he'll be confined the entire three months. For one, he's already banking on being back in New York by Oct. 23 when he's scheduled to be in a courtroom to defend himself against charges that he punched, slapped and bit his girlfriend last month. We'll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, more details (including many that conflict each other) have emerged about the accident that fatally wounded two women last month. Witnesses say that Burgos was driving the Hummer that struck and killed the two women, and the mother of one of the victim is accusing Burgos intentially running over her daughter because her daughter turned down a date with him.
Burgos denies being behind the wheel, claiming he was in the backseat and his cousin was driving, adding that people in his hometown "exaggerate things" out of jealousy. I'm not entirely sure why a mother who just lost her daughter would be jealous of Burgos, but maybe he can explain that in his next interview.
