Free agent Rich Hill and wife Caitlin arrested outside Gillette Stadium
Free-agent left-hander Rich Hill and his wife, Caitlin, were arrested Saturday following a dispute with police outside Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, according to John R. Ellement of the Boston Globe.
Police said that the dispute arose when the Hills were denied entry to Saturday's NFL game between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills due to an oversized bag.
Caitlin Hill repeatedly attempted to enter the stadium with the bag, then refused orders to leave the grounds, leading to her arrest on disorderly conduct and trespassing charges, police told Ellement. Rich Hill then allegedly attempted to stop police from putting his wife inside a police vehicle, leading to his being charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
"He saw her as they were trying to get her into a van to bring to the police station, and he started to interfere with the officers," Foxborough chief police administrator Robert Bolger told Ellement. "He was told several times to back up and he would not. And he ended up getting arrested."
The district attorney's office has since converted the charges against both Rich and Caitlin Hill from criminal to civil. The resisting arrest charge against the pitcher was also dismissed in the "interests of justice," a DA spokesman told Ellement. Caitlin received two fines of $250 each, while her husband was handed a $500 fine.
Rich Hill, a 15-year MLB veteran, spent the last three-plus seasons pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 39-year-old Boston native crafted a 2.45 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 13 regular-season starts for the Dodgers in 2019 before entering free agency at season's end.
Hill, who pitched for the Red Sox from 2010-12 and again in 2015, has yet to find a new team after undergoing elbow surgery after the season. The surgery will keep him out until the middle of next year, though he said in November that at least 10 teams had expressed interest in signing him.
Earlier this week, Hill won the 2019 Tony Conigliaro Award, given annually to the major-league player judged to have "overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination, and courage that were the trademarks of (former Red Sox player Tony Conigliaro)." He is scheduled to be presented with the award in January.