Just when you thought the Biogensis scandal was dead and buried, or at the very least out of the limelight for the rest of this season, Newsday has revealed details of a Florida police report concluded on April 11, which says Major League Baseball investigators were fully aware the Biogenesis documents they sought in their case against Alex Rodriguez and other major leaguers were stolen. It also states MLB was advised to inform police immediately if they happened to run across those documents.
Despite repeated denials by MLB, the police report filed by Det. Terrence Payne says there's strong evidence that MLB investigators not only went ahead and purchased the stolen documents, but elected not to inform police until nearly eight months later.
In other words, Alex Rodriguez was seemingly truthful on one claim in the lawsuit he dropped earlier this year. MLB's aggressive pursuit of evidence against him actually led them to going around police to obtain the stolen documents.*
Payne's report is the latest in a series of unflattering revelations about MLB's aggressive pursuit of evidence that Rodriguez and other players used performance-enhancing drugs provided by Anthony Bosch, the founder of the unlicensed Coral Gables anti-aging clinic Biogenesis.
In the face of legal challenges and public criticism from Rodriguez and others about how they handled their investigation, baseball officials have steadfastly denied that they knowingly bought stolen Biogenesis records.
"We have stated repeatedly that we had no knowledge that the documents we purchased were stolen," MLB senior vice president of public relations Pat Courtney said Friday when contacted by Newsday about the Boca Raton police report.
It's not likely the league will alter that stance following the release of the eight-page police report, but it might make for uncomfortable moments when its brought up.
The Newsday report goes into much more detail about the investigation into the burglary of Porter Fischer's rental car, in which the documents went missing, and how that led them to investigate MLB's possible involvement in obtaining those stolen documents. There's also more details on some of the tactics used by MLB to gather information. That includes how they went about acquiring security footage from a Florida Walgreen's to find the identity of an anonymous caller who offered documents. Once they learned the man's identity, he was offered a job within MLB in exchange for the documents.
It's a lot of information to sort through and digest, but the gist is Payne was able to connect MLB to the documents. However, he was unable to determine probable cause, so no criminal charges were filed against anyone other than Reginald St. Fleur, a tanning salon employee whose DNA was found inside the vehicle.
Newsday has also released copies of the documents and audio of the police's interview with Porter Fischer. If you're still interested in the matter, it's well worth going out of your way to check them all out.*
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813