Oneil Cruz Involved in Crash Six Years Ago That Killed Three People 1mLink copied!

Sep 13, 2026, 11:30 AM ET

Pro Publica's Gus Garcia-Roberts reports that Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz rear-ended a motorcycle six years ago, killing all three of its passengers and jeopardizing his major-league baseball career. Cruz's parents brought in a fixer to pay off the victims' families so they would not sue and would not demand that prosecutors pursue the case. The fixer, Santo Caraballo, essentially saved Cruz's career and launched his own as one of the most powerful figures in Dominican baseball. Caraballo had also become business partners with Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz. A judge released Cruz on a bond of $34,000 after the incident. In court, a lawyer emphasized that Cruz was one of baseball's "five highest-ranked prospects internationally" and that the accident "hurts the whole town, Oneil above all, who for this will have to go to professional therapy so that he can cope with the trauma." Caraballo ultimately negotiated payments to the three victims' families that totaled nearly $70,000 in exchange for getting them to withdraw their claims against Cruz. The document filed in court states that the families sought to "withdraw" all legal claims against Cruz and that they had not received any "pecuniary interest" for withdrawing the claims. A Pro Publica review of the documents signed shows key differences between paperwork filed with the court and the document NOT filed with the court. It is unclear if Major League Baseball will look further into the matter or if Cruz will be subject to any kind of discipline.--Keith Hernandez
Source: Pro Publica - Gus Garcia-Roberts