ATLANTA — Recently released body camera video gives new perspective in the moments leading up to the arrest of Atlanta Braves star Marcell Ozuna. The baseball player was taken into custody on May 29, 2021, by Sandy Springs Police after officers were called to a domestic violence incident.
Ozuna and his wife had gotten into an argument that escalated into a physical altercation, according to police. The couple, from the Dominican Republic, were arguing over an alleged affair, arrest warrants reveal. Police arrived at a home to find Ozuna with his hands around his wife's neck.
"Get your hands off her," one officer said as they raise a Taser gun toward Ozuna in the video below.
After the couple is separated, a new video released showed a police officer questioning Ozuna's wife in Spanish.
It's important to note that 11Alive translated the portions of the conversation that were in Spanish to English.
"He was getting aggressive, aggressive, aggressive," the woman said flustered. "I needed to defend myself."
The woman said the Braves outfielder took both her cellphones while she was using the bathroom and wouldn't return them. She told the officer she was trying to catch a flight she previously booked to Miami to see her sick child. She claimed she had her boarding pass on her phone and Ozuna was purposely trying to keep her from leaving. A suitcase was seen in the garage as she explains to officers how the fight escalated.
The woman said he threatened her life and pushed her, and that's when she threatened to call the police. She managed to get ahold of his phone and called 911, she said in the video below.
After taking the argument outside, she ran back into the house and locked the door but Ozuna re-entered through the garage door and continued to yell at her while she was in the kitchen, she told police. She also admitted to grabbing a large knife, video shows.
"I told him, 'I won't let you hit me,'" she said, adding that she didn't point that knife at him. "This isn't the first time he's gotten like this," she said in Spanish.
In the video, she told the officer that she eventually put the knife down and was "manhandled" by her husband. She said he threw her, even slammed her to the ground at the home. At the time, she said Ozuna was in a cast and she said he used it to hit her.
In the video, the officer pointed to the woman's wrists that had injuries from the altercation.
An officer spoke with Ozuna, who was inside the house, about the altercation. The interview is in Spanish, with Ozuna explaining how they took the fight outside and back into the kitchen. As Ozuna mapped out the argument, he admitted to putting his hands on his wife and choking her, the video show.
The ballplayer alludes that infidelity and mistrust are what sparked the argument.
Officers compare notes after interviewing Ozuna and his wife separately, ultimately deciding to take the baseball player into custody. The outfielder was ordered not to have contact with the victim, who is living in the Miami area. However, he can have contact with his children through a relative or third party.
Lawyers said the couple is in the process of getting a divorce.