Mitchell Involved in Altercation at Bar

Former Padre Kevin Mitchell’s off-season woes continued Friday night when the slugger found himself in the middle of a barroom brawl, San Diego police said.

The fight began about 11 p.m. at Smokey’s Nightclub, 10475 San Diego Mission Road.

“Kevin Mitchell said something to a guy’s girlfriend, and they got into it,” said Bob Willis, a worker at Smokey’s Nightclub.

The fight moved outdoors, and escalated in the parking lot, police spokesman Steve Dietrich said.

“There was a real large fight going on,” Dietrich said. After the first police units arrived, and saw the size of the brawl, they called for “emergency backup,” the spokesman said.

Eventually 15 San Diego police officers responded to the melee, which included “bottles broken and the like,” Dietrich said.

Both Mitchell, who was traded from the San Francisco Giants to the Seattle Mariners in December, and Raymond Hightower, 26, were arrested and taken to a police substation, Dietrich said. Hightower was booked for assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly hitting someone who already was unconscious, police said.

Mitchell, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound outfielder who won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1989, was released, pending a district attorney’s investigation into the matter, Dietrich said.

It was the “first time in four years anything has happened here,” Bob Willis said. “In a nightclub that’s a damn good record.”

The nightclub is owned by former San Diego State basketball Coach Smokey Gaines. Gaines, who had a 112-117 record as Aztecs coach from 1979-87, could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this off-season, Mitchell was arrested after a 24-year-old woman accused him of rape. The case was later dropped when the woman decided not to prosecute.

Mitchell, who attended Clairemont High School, played for the Padres in 1986, after being acquired in a trade with the Mets.