New York Rider Arroyo Jailed for Assaulting Driver

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New York jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. was jailed Friday night, along with his brother and father, for assaulting a livery driver who honked his horn at them on a Bronx street, the New York Post reported Sunday.

Police said the 25-year-old Arroyo Jr., his 21-year-old brother, Erik, and 45-year-old father, Norberto, a former sparring partner for boxing legend Roberto Duran, became angry when the driver of the car, Juan Gil, began honking his horn at them as they crossed Townsend Ave. and 171st Street. After kicking and punching Gil and causing "serious injury to the head and face," all three were arrested and charged with assault.

Arroyo tok off his seven mounts at Belmont Saturday after being held in custody. According to the Post, Gil's sister, Aura Lausell, said her brother was severely injured. "They hit him all over," she told the Post. "He looked like a monster -- his face looked terrible."

Arroyo, who was narrowly defeated in the Eclipse voting as leading apprentice rider last year, won 188 races from 1,165 mounts, earning $6.9 million. But he also was suspended six times, according to the Post, and fined $500 for throwing punches at a security guard at Saratoga.

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