Strawberry: I Was Bingeing

Former baseball star Darryl Strawberry told his probation officer he was taken from a drug treatment center last week by a woman who gave him crack cocaine and brought him to a motel where five men stole his jewelry, according to a report released Tuesday.

The probation report was submitted to a judge who will decide if Strawberry should go to prison for not returning Thursday to the center, where he had been under house arrest. Strawberry checked himself into a hospital Monday.

The report said Strawberry, 39, had violated the terms of his probation by testing positive for cocaine use and leaving the center. Strawberry, who is also being treated for colon cancer, had been serving a two-year sentence for his 1999 arrest on drug and solicitation of prostitution charges.

Strawberry told his probation officer he was picked up at the center by a woman named Beverly who was supposed to take him to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

"Instead, she began smoking crack cocaine and he couldn't resist the temptation," probation officer Shelley Tomlinson wrote. "He said she took him to a nearby motel where there were a total of five men who had guns and took his jewelry."

Strawberry said they used cocaine until Friday, when the men decided it was time to leave. They rode around town, bought more drugs and abandoned Strawberry at an Orlando motel, the report said.

Strawberry was also accused of violating probation on Feb. 28, when he went to a state driver's license office to pick up an application for a hardship license. Strawberry said he needs to regain his driving privileges because it's too hard to find people to give him rides.

Joe Ficarrotta, Strawberry's attorney, was not immediately available for comment. He has said Strawberry needs treatment, not jail time.

Strawberry remained in a psychiatric ward at St. Joseph's Hospital on Tuesday. Officials said he will be jailed and held without bail once doctors declare him mentally stable.

Strawberry, an eight-time All-Star, was suspended from major league baseball last year — his third cocaine-related suspension from baseball in five years.