Wednesday, February 11th 2009, 9:38 AM
Simmon/News
Baseball great
Roberto Alomar has full-blown AIDS but insisted on having unprotected sex, his ex-girlfriend charged Tuesday in a bombshell lawsuit.
The shocking claim was leveled by
Ilya Dall, 31, who said she lived with the ex-Met for three years and watched in horror as his health worsened.
In papers filed in state and federal court, Dall said Alomar finally got tested in January 2006 while suffering from a cough, fatigue and shingles.
"The test results of him being HIV-positive was given to him and the plaintiff on or about Feb.6, 2006," the $15 million negligence suit says.
Nine days later, the couple went to see a disease specialist who discovered a mass in the retired second baseman's chest, the court papers say.
Alomar's skin had turned purple, he was foaming at the mouth and a spinal tap "showed he had full-blown AIDS," the suit says.
Alomar, 41, who quit baseball over health issues in 2005, could not be reached for comment.
His lawyer,
Charles Bach, would not say whether Alomar is HIV-positive. "We believe this is a totally frivolous lawsuit. These allegations are baseless," Bach said. "He's healthy and would like to keep his health status private. We'll do our talking in court."
Alomar's father, Mets bench coach
Sandy Alomar, said the claims were news to him. "That's the first time we ever heard of that," he said from
Puerto Rico.
He didn't think his son could keep a serious illness secret. "I imagine I would know," he said.
Dall, a mother of two who has run a massage spa in
Queens, would not discuss the suit.
"I have no comment," she said outside her lavish home in
Whitestone, Queens, after getting out of a black
Cadillac Escalade.
She referred inquiries to her lawyer,
Anthony Piacentini, who declined to comment.
The suit was filed Jan. 30 in
Queens Supreme Court. Alomar had it transferred to
Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday.
The court papers outline the couple's relationship, starting in 2002. A month after they began dating, Alomar convinced Dall to have unprotected sex and assured her he was disease-free, the suit alleges.
In 2004, Dall says she noticed cold sores in his mouth. In 2005, after a physical exam ordered by the
Tampa Bay Rays, he was diagnosed with thrombocytopenia purpura, a blood disorder sometimes linked to HIV, she claims.
The doctor told him to have an HIV test and he refused, she says, stating he had been tested and was AIDS-free.
In April 2005, Alomar told Dall he was suffering from erectile dysfunction and confided "he was raped by two Mexican men after playing a ballgame in
New Mexico or a Southwestern state when he was 17," the suit says.
It goes on to say that around the same time Alomar developed a persistent cough and was bedridden with extreme fatigue.
He developed thrush, a yeast infection, and was told by a doctor to take an HIV test - but refused, Dall claims.
"I don't have HIV," he told her repeatedly, the suit charges.
A few months later, the couple moved to
Cleveland, where Alomar supposedly tested positive. Dall claims that after she learned Alomar had AIDS, she tested negative and no longer had unprotected sex with him.
They broke up last October.
She is demanding at least $15 million in punitive damages, claiming Alomar caused her emotional distress and exposed her children to the virus.
"He jeopardized the health, well-being and life of the plaintiff, which caused her to have a fear of contracting AIDS, often referred to as AIDS phobia," the suit says.
Considered one of baseball's greatest second basemen, Alomar stirred controversy in 1996 by spitting in the face of umpire
John Hirschbeck.
The incident prompted fellow ump
Al Clark to say, "If I were John, I'd insist that Robbie Alomar take an AIDS test."
HIV has never been transmitted through saliva, however, and last night Hirschbeck said he had no concerns about his safety - or hard feelings from their on-field run-in.
"You're telling me something I'm shocked at," Hirschbeck said. "I wish him nothing but the best."
tconnor@nydailynews.com
