Prosecutors: Racism drove man to hit ex-baseball player
FENTON, Mo. -- Prosecutors say a white St. Louis-area man was driven by racism when he allegedly punched former Cardinals outfielder Curt Ford.
St. Louis County prosecutors have charged 37-year-old James Street of Fenton with felony third-degree assault motivated by discrimination.
The 54-year-old Ford, who is black, tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was walking into a Fenton convenience store Wednesday when he was punched in the face without warning after Street shouted racial slurs at him.
Online court records don't show whether Street has an attorney. He doesn't have a listed home phone number.
Ford was drafted by the Cardinals in the 1981 amateur draft. He played for St. Louis from mid-1985 to 1988, finishing his career with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1990 with a .245 career average.