Ex-White Sox closer Jenks faces DUI charge

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Bobby Jenks was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, damaging property and leaving the scene of an accident after a car crash in Fort Myers, Florida, according to a police report.

Jenks, 31, was “shaking uncontrollably” and failed field sobriety tests when he was arrested at 3:43 a.m. on five misdemeanor counts, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said in a report on its website. The Red Sox hold spring training in Fort Myers.

Jenks, a former White Sox closer who signed with Boston in 2010, was pulled over when police spotted his car weaving through an intersection, the sheriff's office said in the report. He told officers he had taken muscle relaxers and had just left Babe's, a strip club, where he had struck another vehicle with his white Mercedes-Benz SUV, according to the report.

“I'm messed up,” Jenks was quoted in the report as telling the officers.

He was released on a total of $4,250 bond with a scheduled trial date of April 9, according to the police statement.

“We have been made aware of a situation regarding Bobby Jenks and take such matters seriously,” the Red Sox said in a statement. “We are gathering information and will refrain from further comment at this time.”

The police report didn't list an attorney for Jenks.

Jenks, whose fastball once was clocked at 102 miles per hour and who retired 41 straight batters at one stretch of 2007, is in the Red Sox's camp as he recovers from two offseason back operations and is on the 60-day disabled list.

An All-Star with the Chicago White Sox in 2006 and 2007, when he had a total of 81 saves, he signed a two-year, $12 million contract as a free agent with the Red Sox in December 2010 and appeared in 19 games last season, posting a 2-2 record with a career-high 6.32 earned run average and no saves in 19 games. He was diagnosed with blood clots in the lungs in September.

For his seven-year major league career, Jenks has 173 saves with a 16-20 record and a 3.53 ERA.

Here is a link to the sheriff's report.