Jim Leyritz, Yankee Bawler, Pops Off to New York Post
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Leyritz, who was driving drunk in downtown Fort Lauderdale when his car struck and killed 30-year-old Fredia Veitch, yelled at New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser that he was going after the jobs of the police officers at the scene of the accident, that he was only arrested because he was a Yankee, and, worst of all, blamed Veitch, derided her as a "party girl."
Then it ended with Leyritz, who resides in Broward, breaking down into one of his signature crying jags. Too bad Dave Bogenschutz didn't make that call for him. Inside, read all the outrageous quotes.
What Leyritz said:
-- On the victim: "I knew the girl. She was a dancer at one of the nightclubs."
When asked if she was a stripper, a "chuckling" Leyritz said, "I don't like to use the word. She's a party girl. There was no reason for her to be in the intersection at 50 miles an hour, with a .18 blood-alcohol level, her husband bombarding her with text messages. Probably what happened is she got distracted."
Funny, according to his passenger, it was Leyritz who was distracted, reaching down into his seat for something as he approached the intersection (sources say it was his cell phone).
-- On the arresting officer and investigator: "I'm gonna make them lose their jobs."
-- On his own plight: "My life was dragged though the mud because I was a Yankee. I got tried because I'm an athlete! There was a good chance I was innocent!"
He claimed he'd had only "one drink and one shot" before the accident, though he had a blood-alcohol level of .19. "At the time of the accident, the alcohol had not got into my system yet," he told Peyser.
Yeah, Bogenschutz might be able to try to sell that line, but no sentient human being could possibly believe it, including the jury, which convicted him of DUI.
-- After saying all that, he called Peyser back and began to "blubber."
"Once I hung up with you, I got really scared. I fucked up. I feel like a heel. I got so angry. That family has been through enough. It was an accident. A one-time accident. It could happen to you! You could lose three years of your life. I'm a good person!"
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