Ex-MLB star and No. 1 pick Matt Bush charged with DWI after 'trying to flee multi-vehicle crash'

Former baseball star and No 1 overall pick Matt Bush was arrested on DWI charges on Sunday after allegedly trying to flee the scene of a multi-vehicle crash in Texas.

Bush, 38, was behind the wheel of his 2023 Lincoln Aviator on Sunday evening when an Arlington police officer tried to pull him over after noticing he was driving erratically.

Police records then show he sped away and evaded the cops, prompting a 'Be On The Lookout' report for the public to help find the driver shortly after 8:30pm.

Just minutes later, police received reports of a multi-vehicle smash at a nearby intersection and arrived to find Bush being held down by a group of bystanders.

The police report explains that he ran the red light at the intersection, hit a 2023 Chevy Silverado, and then crashed into two more cars - a 2010 GMC Yukon and a 2008 Toyota Corolla.

The former Texas Rangers star then tried to flee the scene, before being chased down by members of the public and held until the police arrived.

Bush and the 41-year-old driver of the Silverado were then taken to hospital, and police suspected that Bush 'might be intoxicated'. He declined to take a field sobriety test and refused to speak to investigators about the crash.

Bush - who returned to the Rangers and won the World Series in 2023 - has a checkered past with multiple arrests and DUI charges.  

A few weeks after he was drafted No 1 overall to the San Diego Padres in 2004, the pitcher was arrested on suspicion of felony assault, misdemeanor trespass and disorderly conduct after 'biting a bouncer trying to escort him out of a bar'.

In 2009, he was involved in a drunken assault at a San Diego high school, in which he 'attacked a young lacrosse player with a golf club, while screaming: "I'm Matt f***ing Bush".'

He was then traded to the Blue Jays, but only a month later assaulted a woman at a party in Florida, and was released by the team for violating his 'zero tolerance agreement'.

In 2012 - while with the Tampa Bay Rays - he was jailed after being arrested and charged with two counts of DUI with property damage, one count of DUI with serious bodily injury, one count of leaving the scene of an accident with an injury, one count of driving with a suspended license, and 2 counts of leaving the scene of an accident with damage to property.

The incident occurred when Bush hit a 72-year-old motorcyclist, running over his head as he tried to flee the scene. It was reported that the victim only survived because he was wearing a helmet. 

Bush spent the 2012 MLB season in the Charlotte County Jail, and in December of the same year was sentenced to 51 months in prison. He was released on October 30, 2015.

Two months after his release from prison, he was signed to a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers, and was again placed on a zero-tolerance policy.

He returned to the major leagues in May 2016, earning his first ever MLB win against the Toronto Blue Jays that month.

In the years that followed, Bush underwent several surgeries which kept him away from the field, including multiple Tommy John procedures.

In 2023, he agreed a shock return to the Rangers after a spell in Milwaukee, and was part of the World Series-winning roster - despite not playing a game.

He is currently out of contract at the age of 38.