DARRYL STRAWBERRY ARRESTED AGAIN

Athlete Charged In Parole Violation

TAMPA - Former New York Yankee and major-league baseball All-Star Darryl
Strawberry spent his 40th birthday Tuesday in the Marion County Jail,
charged with his sixth violation of probation in three years.

The beleaguered Strawberry, fighting a cocaine addiction and colon cancer,
was placed on probation last year by Hillsborough County Circuit Judge
Florence Foster. The probation included successfully completing a drug
treatment program at Phoenix House, a rehabilitation center near Ocala.

Under the terms of probation, Strawberry was to have complied with the
facility's rules.

Joe Papy, a probation supervisor overseeing Strawberry, said Tuesday that
the former slugger had broken one of those rules.

"It was not drug-related," Papy said. He also said Strawberry did not leave
the facility.

Marion County sheriff's spokeswoman Angela Jewell said deputies were called
to Phoenix House on Monday and Tuesday.

"A disturbance started yesterday," she said Tuesday. "We arrested four
people then. Today, we arrested six, and Mr. Strawberry was one of them."

She was unaware of any charges against Strawberry other than the violation
of probation charge. He was being held without bail at the Marion County Jail.

Finn Kavanagh, a spokesman for Phoenix House, declined to comment
specifically on Strawberry's situation.

"Substance abuse treatment is a very challenging experience here at Phoenix
House," he said Tuesday. "We would love it if everyone completes it. Not
everyone does."

He would not say whether Strawberry would be readmitted into the program.
"We review rule infractions on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Strawberry was sentenced in May to two years of community control, one year
of probation, 100 hours of community service and a suspended 18- month
prison term. Now that Strawberry is accused of violating that probation, he
faces the possibility of being sent to prison to serve the 18-month term.

This is his sixth violation of probation since a no-contest plea in 1999 on
charges of cocaine possession and solicitation of prostitution.

Phoenix House, which works with the Florida Department of Corrections and
has probation officers on site, has no walls or fences. A confrontational
approach is used to address drug and alcohol addiction, and officials
insist on a minimalist lifestyle that includes dormitories and clothing
restrictions.