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Gift Ngoepe and Dovydas Neverauskas Arrested in Toledo Over the Weekend

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Gift Ngoepe and Dovydas Neverauskas were arrested in Toledo late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, Pirates Prospects has learned. Public arrest records are available, with both players being arrested by the Toledo Police Department.

Pirates Prospects has learned that the incident took place in a bar fight at The Blarney Irish Pub across the street from the stadium in Toledo.

Ngoepe was arrested under charges of simple assault. He was also charged with two counts of resisting arrest. The arrest took place at 2:43 AM Sunday morning. He was booked at 3:52 AM and released on $250 bond at 12:00 PM Sunday afternoon.

A Toledo Mud Hens player, Warwick Saupold, was also arrested for assault. A fourth person, Andrey Goncharuk, was arrested for assault in the same incident, although he is not a member of either organization.

Neverauskas was arrested at 2:43 AM under charges of misconduct and failure to obey lawful order. He was booked at 4:00 AM and released one hour later at 5:00 AM with a bond set at $100.

Both players were booked to appear in court on September 13th at 9:00 AM. Arrested records were available from the Toledo Municipal Court.

NeverauskasNgoepe

We have reached out to the Pirates for comment, and will update this article when we get a response. We have also reached out to the Toledo Police Department for more details on the incident. We will update with any information when it is available.

UPDATE 4:00 PM: I received a copy of the arrest report. The incident took place outside of The Bronze Boar, which is right down the road from The Blarney Irish Pub, across from the stadium.

The incident started when officers observed Goncharuk and Saupold yelling at each other with an individual between the two keeping Saupold from advancing. Saupold then punched Goncharuk in the face “with a closed right fist.” Saupold was placed into handcuffs on the police car.

At that point, the report says that Neverauskas was yelling obscenities at the officer making the arrest. He was ordered to go back and stand on the sidewalk, and stood next to the passenger door of the car. The officer yelled two more times for Neverauskas to stand back, and Neverauskas responded that he did already. After the third time, Neverauskas said “What are you going to do shoot me?”

The report says that Ngoepe then wrapped his arms around the officer from behind, attempting to prevent him from arresting Saupold. The officer pushed him away with his left elbow and ordered him to get off of him. The other officer was taking Goncharuk into custody.

Ngoepe was then ordered to come to the second officer. He turned and started to walk away. He was told to stop, and that he was under arrest. After he stopped, the officer grabbed him by his left wrist to cuff him, but he twisted his wrist away and began to walk away. While the second officer tried to arrest Ngoepe, Neverauskas came over and grabbed the officer’s left arm, attempting to grab Ngoepe as well. A third officer helped the second officer make the arrest, and the second officer told Neverauskas he was under arrest.

Neverauskas then resisted arrest, and was taken to the ground, being pulled by his shoulder area. He fell and landed on a landscaping brick next to the steps, which was the cause of the scratch on his forehead.

Witness reports said that the three players were upset when the bartender called for last call. After the situation escalated, they were ordered out of the bar, at which point Goncharuk stepped between Ngoepe and a female bartender he was yelling at, and told Ngoepe to leave. Ngoepe pushed Goncharuk and Goncharuk pushed Ngoepe to the floor. The three players waited outside, knocking on the glass, with Goncharuk waiting inside for 15 minutes for the players to leave. Goncharuk then said he had to leave, went outside, and that’s when the officers arrived and the incident started.

UPDATE 4:37 PM: I just received an official statement from Neal Huntington, saying both players have been suspended for seven days. There will be no additional statements. Here is the statement from Huntington:

“We are aware of the incident that took place over the weekend in Toledo, and are extremely disappointed in the actions of Gift and Dovydas. We have made the decision to suspend both players for seven days, taking them through the remainder of their seasons.”

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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