An Atlanta Braves outfielder has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault by strangulation and battery after police responded to a domestic abuse call regarding his wife.
Marcell Ozuna, 30, was arrested Saturday afternoon at his Sandy Springs, Georgia, home. The responding officers heard screaming coming from inside and saw that the front door was wide open before they entered and witnessed him “grabbing the victim by the neck and throwing her against a wall.”
“Officers were able to immediately take the suspect into custody without further incident,” the Sandy Springs Police Department wrote in a statement. “In addition to the strangulation attempts, the suspect also struck the victim with his arm, which has a cast from a previous injury. Preliminary investigation has revealed this incident to be domestic-related between the suspect and his wife, both residents of the Windsor Cove home.”
The statement notes that the victim did have injuries, but was not taken to a hospital. Ozuna has been booked at Fulton County Jail and is awaiting prosecution. A rep for Ozuna did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The MLB’s Department of Investigations is beginning an investigation into the matter in accordance with the MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association’s joint policy against domestic violence, according to CNN.
“We learned of Marcell Ozuna’s arrest earlier this evening and immediately informed the Commissioner’s Office,” the Braves wrote in a statement on Twitter. “The Braves fully support Major League Baseball’s policy on domestic violence which stresses to the fullest that our society cannot and will not tolerate domestic violence in any form. Until the investigation is completed, we will have no further comment.”
Ozuna and wife Genesis Guzman, who are both from the Dominican Republic, have three children together. The couple was involved in another domestic dispute around this time last year.
Genesis was arrested and charged with domestic battery in June 2020 after she allegedly hit Ozuna with a soap dish, causing a “small laceration” on his face, according to Fox Sports 640’s Andy Slater. She pleaded not guilty at the time and was ordered to stay away from her husband.