Former Atlanta Braves slugger Ryan Klesko, a stalwart during the franchise's glory days, pointed a loaded gun at an ex-business partner's head and threatened harm to him and his family, a lawsuit filed last month in Houston County claims.
Plaintiff James McDaniel, of Kathleen, said the alleged incident occurred last June in the parking lot of a Warner Robins Waffle House.
"[Klesko] told me that if I ever screw him, mess with him, steal from him, leave him ... , he would kill me," McDaniel told Warner Robins Police -- three months after that exchange. The contractor told police he would pursue his own case against the 16-year major league veteran and Klesko's associate, Richard Spear.
Two weeks before McDaniel, 36, contacted police, Klesko and Spear filed their own report with authorities claiming McDaniel had defrauded the company out of roughly $28,000. No charges were filed in that case, either.
McDaniel's attorney, Kevin Herrick, declined comment when reached by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
McDaniel, seeking compensatory damages, said he entered into a business relationship with Klesko and Spear in June 2009. The ex-Brave and his partner would supply financial support while McDaniel supplied the labor and managed the various projects, most of which were located on Robins Air Force Base.
After the relationship dissolved, McDaniel claims his former partners maligned his work and called him a criminal.
The lawyer representing Klesko and Spear, J. Brian Rutland, did not respond to an interview request. Klesko, who has residences in Macon and Cloverdale, Calif., could not be reached for comment.
The 39-year-old California native retired from baseball following the 2007 season. Klesko, a first baseman and left fielder, slammed 139 homers for the Braves from 1992-99.
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