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Former MLB prospect released after video of domestic assault surfaces

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Warning: Some may find the video to be graphic

HOUSTON – A former baseball prospect has been cut by his Pennsylvania minor league team after police released disturbing video of a 2016 domestic assault in a stadium stairwell.

Danry Vasquez, 24, was playing for the Corpus Christi Hooks — the AA minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros – when he was arrested for domestic violence in the August 2016 incident, according to TMZ. Surveillance video released Wednesday allegedly shows Vasquez backhanding the woman in the face and continuing to beat her while dragging her down a stairwell.

The team released him days later, but his girlfriend refused to cooperate with prosecutors and wanted the case dropped, Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez said.

Because of that, Vasquez was ordered to attend anger management courses and has completed the terms of his probation. The case was formally dismissed on March 6.

"Every time a man or woman hurts each other, that's what it looks like and it's ugly and what I'm trying to accomplish is to stop that from happening," Gonzalez said. "Probation checked with us and he had done everything we asked him to do, so I was forced to dismiss the case."

Vasquez went on to sign a contract with the Lancaster Barnstormers, an independent minor league team with the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. They have now released him in the wake of the video's release, saying, “Upon being made aware of the nature of the incident, the Barnstormers made a prompt decision to cut ties with the 24-year-old.”

Manager Ross Peeples added, “There is no choice but to sever the relationship. Neither I, nor the Barnstormers’ organization as a whole, can condone or associate with that behavior.”

Vasquez' attorney, Les Cassidy, told local television station KRIS that his client is ashamed after seeing the footage on the news.

"He's learned to not get involved or resort to violence or force if he's upset with something," Cassidy said. "There were things going on in their lives at the time and he's better with coping with it now."