Pittsburgh Pirates’ Kang booked for drunken driving

Kang Jung-ho

Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho was booked by the Gangnam Police Precinct in southern Seoul for drunken driving on Friday.

The 29-year-old Major League Baseball player drove his car under the influence of alcohol and jumped the curb near Samseong Station in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, at 2:45 a.m. Friday morning, according to police.

A subsequent investigation found Kang was drinking at a friend’s house in nearby Samseong-dong and was on his way back to the hotel where he was staying. Police said he admitted to the charges and returned home at around 6 a.m.

Kang’s blood alcohol level when police apprehended him was 0.084 percent, the level at which one’s driver’s license can be revoked.

Police said it will hand over the case to prosecutors.

This is not the first time Kang has run afoul of the law. In July, he was investigated by police in Chicago, where he was with the Pirates for an away game, on allegations of sexual assault. The woman filed a complaint with police saying Kang, whom she had met through a dating app, took her to his hotel and served her an alcoholic drink that caused her to black out for 15 to 20 minutes. No charges were filed, and Kang’s status with the team remained unchanged.

But this time, there is a high chance the team will mete out penalties to Kang, who has been charged with driving under the influence. “We are extremely disappointed in Jung-ho in his decision process during this matter,” the Pirates’ president, Frank Coonelly, wrote in a statement Friday. “I know firsthand how foolish and dangerous it is to drive under the influence and am most thankful that, as we understand it, no one was injured. We will have further comment once we have been able to gather all of the relevant facts and speak with the player.”

Kang, who signed a four-year $11 million contract with the Pirates in 2015, batted a .255 average with 21 home runs this season.

BY PARK SO-YOUNG, KIM YU-NA [kim.yuna1@joongang.co.kr]