this is fucking horrible
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Four unidentified men disguised as police officers kidnapped the mother of Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina in his native Venezuela, police said Thursday.
The gang forced its way on Wednesday into the home of Urbina, stole $520 and took his mother, Maura Villareal, and a man from the house, said Joel Rengifo, chief of the national Investigative Police anti-kidnapping unit.
"They checked over the house, took a million bolivars ($520) that she had to pay workers and then took her and a mechanic," Rengifo told reporters, according to Reuters.
"There could have been some previous surveillance of the pitcher's mother and that is why they may have taken this person," he said.
Police said there had been no contact with the gunmen.
The Tigers, in a statement released Thursday, said: "Ugueth Urbina has left the club to return to his native Venezuela to attend to the kidnapping of his mother. The Detroit Tigers organization is working with Major League Baseball and its contacts in Venezuela to assist Ugueth."
"He went back there," confirmed Chris Leible, one of Urbina's agents. "Basically, we're just trying to make heads or tails of it, the way everyone else is. The Tigers and MLB are trying to see what we can do. We're all on the same page and trying to put this all together and hopefully have a happy ending."
This is the second time Urbina or his family has come into danger in Venezuela. He was arrested in January for allegedly firing gunshots into the air out of the passenger window of an SUV in an upscale Caracas neighborhood. After an investigation, however, a judge ruled that he fired the gun in self-defense when a man on a motorcycle tried to rob him. The charges were subsequently dismissed.
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Four unidentified men disguised as police officers kidnapped the mother of Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina in his native Venezuela, police said Thursday.
The gang forced its way on Wednesday into the home of Urbina, stole $520 and took his mother, Maura Villareal, and a man from the house, said Joel Rengifo, chief of the national Investigative Police anti-kidnapping unit.
"They checked over the house, took a million bolivars ($520) that she had to pay workers and then took her and a mechanic," Rengifo told reporters, according to Reuters.
"There could have been some previous surveillance of the pitcher's mother and that is why they may have taken this person," he said.
Police said there had been no contact with the gunmen.
The Tigers, in a statement released Thursday, said: "Ugueth Urbina has left the club to return to his native Venezuela to attend to the kidnapping of his mother. The Detroit Tigers organization is working with Major League Baseball and its contacts in Venezuela to assist Ugueth."
"He went back there," confirmed Chris Leible, one of Urbina's agents. "Basically, we're just trying to make heads or tails of it, the way everyone else is. The Tigers and MLB are trying to see what we can do. We're all on the same page and trying to put this all together and hopefully have a happy ending."
This is the second time Urbina or his family has come into danger in Venezuela. He was arrested in January for allegedly firing gunshots into the air out of the passenger window of an SUV in an upscale Caracas neighborhood. After an investigation, however, a judge ruled that he fired the gun in self-defense when a man on a motorcycle tried to rob him. The charges were subsequently dismissed.
