Los Angeles Dodgers ace Trevor Bauer is facing investigation for alleged assault, the Pasadena Police Department (PPD) said on Tuesday.
According to ESPN and The Athletic, Lt. Bill Grisafe confirmed that the department was investigating Bauer after a woman was granted a restraining order in L.A. County Superior Court against the Dodgers starting pitcher.
"It is an active investigation," Grisafe told the media on Tuesday. The case could be turned to the district attorney's office on Wednesday before making a decision on whether it will move forward.
The protection order in place is a temporary ex parte restraining order. A temporary ex parte restraining order does not allow for a response from the accused party and the temporary order is in place based solely on the claims by the accuser.
Bauer's representatives confirmed they plan to refute and defend him against the allegations at the scheduled hearing on July 23.
Marc Garelick, the attorney of the alleged victim, described his client as suffering from "severe physical and emotional pain" as a result of what he described as a "recent assault" from the MLB star.
"The order is a result of a recent assault that took place at the hands of Mr. Bauer where [the woman] suffered severe physical and emotional pain," Garelick's statement read.
"Our goal is to keep Mr. Bauer from contacting our client in any way possible. We anticipate there will be criminal action against Mr. Bauer, and it is our hope law enforcement will take our client's allegations and case seriously."
The 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner with the Cincinnati Reds last season, Bauer signed a record-setting three-year $102 million contract with the Dodgers in February. The 30-year-old last pitched on Monday night as the Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants 3-2 at Dodger Stadium.
In a lengthy statement, Bauer's agent, Jon Fetterolf, denied the allegations on behalf of his client. He added the nature of Bauer's relationship with the woman was consensual and consisted of two encounters, the second of which took place on May 16 at Bauer's home in Pasadena, California.
"Mr. Bauer had a brief and wholly consensual sexual relationship initiated by [the woman] beginning in April 2021," the statement read.
"We have messages that show [the woman] repeatedly asking for "rough" sexual encounters involving requests to be 'choked out' and slapped in the face. In both of their encounters, [the woman] drove from San Diego to Mr. Bauer's residence in Pasadena, California. where she went on to dictate what she wanted from him sexually and he did what was asked.
"Following each of her only two meetings with Mr. Bauer, [the woman] spent the night and left without incident, continuing to message Mr. Bauer with friendly and flirtatious banter. In the days following their second and final encounter, [the woman] shared photos of herself and indicated that she had sought medical care for a concussion. Mr. Bauer responded with concern and confusion, and [the woman] was neither angry nor accusatory.
"Mr. Bauer and [the woman] have not corresponded in over a month and have not seen each other in over six weeks. Her basis for filing a protection order is nonexistent, fraudulent, and deliberately omits key facts, information, and her own relevant communications. Any allegations that the pair's encounters were not 100% consensual are baseless, defamatory, and will be refuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Bauer's team also provided text messages that the woman sent to the Dodgers pitcher before the second encounter in which she invited rough sex. Bauer's agent said the messages were omitted from her petition for the temporary ex parte restraining order.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Dodgers said they had been "made aware of the allegations against Trevor Bauer late this afternoon and immediately contacted Major League Baseball, which will be handling the matter. The Dodgers take any allegations of this nature very seriously but will have no further comment at this time."
The MLB confirmed it had been informed about the matter and was looking into the allegations.
On July 2, the MLB placed Bauer on a seven-day administrative leave—which is not, however, a disciplinary action.
"We reaffirm our original statement and refute [the woman's] allegations in the strongest possible terms," Fetterolf and Bauer's co-agent Rachel Luba said in a statement emailed to Newsweek.
"Mr. Bauer will not appeal MLB's decision to place him on administrative leave at this time in an effort to minimize any distraction to the Dodgers organization and to his teammates."
Update 7/4/21 03.40 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include both Fetterolf's statements in their entirety and to note that the protection order in place is in fact a temporary ex parte restraining order.
Update 7/4/21 05.00 a.m. ET: This article was updated with more details about the temporary ex parte restraining order.
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About the writer
Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he was a news and business reporter at International Business Times UK. Dan has also written for The Guardian and The Observer.
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