The San Francisco Giants are attempting to obtain a restraining order following a jarring Dec. 9 incident at Oracle Park, in which a man is accused of ramming a pickup truck through the locked players’ lot gate and a fence at speeds approaching 70 mph.
A police report lists the driver as Marcos Decarlo Castrillo, 27 — and additionally lists the blue 2002 Ford F-150 as belonging to Marvin Benard, an outfielder for the team between 1995 and 2003. A Dec. 20, 2019, legal filing stemming from the incident lists Castrillo as an “apparent associate” of the former center fielder, who had been seen accompanying him to the park “on many occasions” when Benard was working as a sportscaster.
Castrillo, reached subsequently by phone, told Mission Local that Benard is “a good friend” who left the truck in his care when he traveled to Argentina for a December baseball coaching program.
Per a sworn declaration from Gene Telucci, the Giants’ vice president of baseball operations, Castrillo rammed through the locked gate and a fence at around 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 9 before his airbags deployed and he came to a stop in a public walkway in the back of Oracle Park.
He then allegedly “ran along the McCovey Cove boardwalk” without his sweatshirt or T-shirt while being pursued by several Giants employees. He purportedly handed his keys to a Giants employee.
Police and paramedics subsequently arrived on scene and Castrillo — an overseas professional basketball player who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs around 200 pounds — was handcuffed. Per the initial police report, he “appeared to be in an altered mental state” and “repeated his comments and was mumbling to himself.”
The police report describes Castrillo as being “extremely agitated and uncooperative” and resisting both the officers and medical personnel. He was physically restrained while in the ambulance by officers who additionally hit him with “distraction blows,” according to their written report. Castrillo was admitted to the General Hospital emergency room and allowed his blood to be drawn. The results of the toxicology reports are not known.
He was subsequently transported to County Jail and booked on suspected DUI charges, resisting arrest, vandalism, and hit-and-run driving.
“Please make it known I wasn’t on drugs or drinking,” Castrillo told Mission Local. “I didn’t want to do harm to anybody and I didn’t want to do harm to the ballpark.”
He described himself as being “under a lot of stress. It built up and turned into an incident. It was a buildup of everything and that day it reached a peak. My intentions were never to injure anybody or make the baseball park in danger or anything like that.”
Castrillo said he remembers “bits and pieces” of the event. “They took me to the hospital. I was checked out by doctors. I remember waking up the next day in the courthouse [the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant]. They let me out. To be honest, I’m trying not to remember much of it. It’s something I’m not too proud of.”
The Giants are seeking to obtain a restraining order barring Castrillo from the vicinity of the ballpark; a hearing is scheduled for February. A charging decision has not yet been made by the District Attorney and the case is under investigation.
Messages for the team have not been returned. Colin Larson, one of the team’s attorneys, declined to comment.
A call placed to Benard was answered by a woman who said she was his wife. She agreed to pass along a message but declined to answer any questions.
Julian Mark contributed reporting to this piece.
Damn why couldn’t it be Aubrey Huff