Mike Leake, Former ASU Standout, Arrested on Shoplifting Charges; Rich Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Caught Stealing $59.88 Worth of Merchandise

Young Cincinnati Reds starter Mike Leake was arrested this afternoon for stealing $59.88 worth of American Rag T-shirts, according to the Cincinnati Police arrest report. Leake is one of the better young pitchers in baseball, a hot prospect drafted out of ASU who the Cincinnati Reds threw straight onto their...

By Gregory Pratt

April 18, 2011

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Young Cincinnati Reds starter Mike Leake was arrested this afternoon for stealing $59.88 worth of American Rag T-shirts, according to the Cincinnati Police arrest report.

Leake is one of the better young pitchers in baseball, a hot prospect drafted out of ASU who the Cincinnati Reds threw straight onto their major league roster without even a cup of coffee in the minors last season. Leake made the cover of USA Today in 2010, where he said Stephen Strasburg, the Washington Nationals' over-hyped young starter, was the fat kid on their traveling team when they were 11.

The Reds pitcher will make $425,000 this season.

According to reports in the Cincinnati press, Leake removed the security tags from six T-shirts and left the store without paying for them. A member of Macy's anti-shoplifting squad confronted him, and police were called.

The theft is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum jail term of 180 days, but that's unlikely. He'll probably face hell from the Reds' media when he explains just what on Earth he was thinking. Stay tuned.

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