[USML Announce] Here's One Rip Who Won't be Reserved....

[Brad Jansen]

Alfredo Simon surrenders self, gunEmail Print Comments52 Associated Press

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Baltimore Orioles reliever
Alfredo Simon surrendered to police Monday to face an involuntary
manslaughter charge in a fatal shooting New Year's Eve. His lawyer
said he was firing celebratory shots in the air.



Simon

The Dominican pitcher is suspected of killing 25-year-old Michel
Castillo Almonte and wounding his 17-year-old brother in the northeast
coastal town of Luperon. The dead man is Simon's cousin, according to
the player's lawyer.

Police initially said a murder charge would be filed against Simon,
but Public Prosecutor Victor Mueses told The Associated Press on
Monday that witness accounts and evidence support an involuntary
manslaughter charge instead.

"The version that we have is that there was a dispute between two
women and he tried to dissolve it, fired a shot that ended up wounding
a young person in the arm and that same bullet lodged in the chest of
the deceased," Mueses said by phone.

Simon is to appear at the Puerto Plata courthouse for arraignment
later in the day. He could face up to two years in prison if found
guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Mueses, the public prosecutor in
Puerto Plata, said he will request three months of preventive
detention for Simon while the case is pending.

Simon's lawyer, Carlos Olivares, told the AP his client fired random
shots with a group of local boys. But he believes Simon could not have
been the shooter because the player's cousin was shot in the chest.

"We are giving the weapon so that the national police can do the
pertinent ballistics tests," Olivares said.

Ballistics test should be completed in the next 48 hours, according to
Dominican Police Chief Jose Polanco.

Some Dominicans shoot guns in the air on New Year's Eve especially in
the hours leading to midnight, although authorities have repeatedly
warned against the practice. Bystanders are killed or wounded every
New Year's Eve.

Simon was accompanied to the police station by Julio Lugo, the free
agent second baseman for the Orioles.

"He is scared because he recognizes that he fired shots, although they
went into the air," said Lugo, who advised Simon to surrender after he
fled the scene.

The injured teenager was shot in the right arm and remains
hospitalized in the Dominican city of Santiago.

Simon joined Baltimore in 2008 but was quickly sidelined with an
injury. The 29-year-old pitcher went 4-2 with a 4.93 ERA last season.
He had 17 save