Elijah Dukes Allegedly Threatens Wife and Kids

Devil Rays rookie Elijah Dukes can hit the ball a long, long way. Unfortunately, his rap sheet is just as long: he's been arrested six times since 1998 and has been suspended by his team three times. Needless to say, the guy has anger issues, though for a while early this season it seemed that he was making strides.

Sadly, that wasn't the case. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Dukes charged into his wife's workplace at -- a middle school classroom, no less, though no children were present at the time -- threatening her:

"It was Elijah (my husband) coming toward me at my desk stating he was going to beat my a-- and kill me," [NiShea] Gilbert wrote in her request for a restraining order.

Gilbert wisely ran to get the principal and a deputy, and Dukes was banned from the property. As Gilbert would later tell police, Dukes then sent a picture of a handgun to her cell phone (you can see the picture here) in addition to the leaving the following message:

"Hey, dawg. It's on, dawg. You dead, dawg. I ain't even bulls-------. Your kids too, dawg. It don't even matter to me who is in the car with you. N-----, all I know is, n-----, when I see your m-----f------- a-- riding, dawg, it's on. As a matter of fact, I'm coming to your m-----f------ house."

Gilbert has a restraining order against Dukes, but it's not surprising that she's too scared to sleep at her house when the Rays are in town. Unfortunately, these are just the latest in a string of several incidents in the couple's rocky marriage, including at least one incident that resulted in Dukes being sentenced to probation for domestic battery in 2005.

It's probably too early to expect the Devil Rays to actually do anything to Dukes in terms of punishment, but you have to imagine a suspension is possible down the road. Given his track record for trouble both on and off the field, I won't be too surprised if the Rays come down hard ... though the cynic in me doesn't actually expect it.

Previously on FanHouse:
Julio Mateo Allegedly Beat, Bit and Choked His Wife
Alberto Callaspo Arrested for Alleged Wife Beating
Ron Artest Charged with Four Misdemeanors