Officials: Bandits Caused Car Crash that Killed Valbuena and Castillo

On Friday, Venezuelan officials said that the car crash in which former Major League Baseball players Jose Castillo and Luis Valbuena were killed was caused by bandits who then robbed the two.

Valbuena, who was 33, and Castillo, 37, died Thursday. The incident occured when the SUV they were in crashed when trying to avoid an object on the highway. This is according to Yaracuy state Governor Julio Leon Heredia in a tweet.

Officials said bandits throw or place objects on highways that force vehicles to come to a stop or crash. This is so that the bandits are then able to rob the occupants of the vehicles. Heredia said four people had been detained after property of the two former baseball players was found in their possession.

Castillo and Valbuena were playing in the winter league in Venezuela for Cardenales de Lara. They had been returning from a game in Caracas when they crashed on their way to Barquisimeto.

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Carlos Rivero, a third baseman on the team, was also in the SUV and survived the crash said authorities.

Valbuena played 11 seasons in the majors. He batted .199 with nine homers and 33 RBIs this past season in 96 games with the Los Angeles Angels. He was released by the team on August 7.

Valbuena had a career batting average of .226 and 114 homers during his 11 season in the big leagues with the Angels, Mariners, Indians, Cubs and Astros.

Castillo played for five seasons with the Pirates, Giants and Astros and ended his career with a .254 batting average and 39 homers.

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By Friday afternoon the two coffins with the bodies of the players arrived at Barquisimeto’s Antonio Herrera Gutierrez stadium where teammates received them and a mass was held in their honor.

The president of the Venezuelan winter league said he was considering the possibility of forbidding players from traveling in their own cars from one game to another saying if the three players had been on their team bus this tragedy would not have happened.

Usually teams in the league travel in buses that are protected by security.