Rich Hill addresses arrest at Patriots-Bills game, calls incident ‘overblown'

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Rich Hill believes you shouldn't be reading about him in the news today.

The free-agent pitcher and his wife, Caitlin, were arrested Saturday at Gillette Stadium before the New England Patriots' game against the Buffalo Bills.

Why? His wife was denied entry while wearing a fanny pack that violated the NFL's bag policy, and as Hill told it, Gillette Stadium security escalated things far too quickly from there.

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"Despite Saturday’s events, my great respect for law enforcement remains unchanged," Hill said Monday night in a statement released through his attorney, via MassLive.com

"However, seeing my wife handcuffed for a problem that started because of her fanny pack was extremely difficult for me to witness. This was all overblown and we are glad to have it behind us."

Foxboro police arrested Caitlin Hill after she refused to leave the premises when her bag was denied entry. When Rich Hill saw his wife being escorted to a prisoner transport van, he tried to intervene, resulting in his arrest for disorderly conduct.

Both Rich and Caitlin had their charges converted from criminal to civil infractions that were resolved with small fines. But Hill's attorney also took issue with how Gillette Stadium handled the incident.

"This was a terribly unfortunate event that should never have escalated beyond a routine encounter with Stadium Security," his attorney, Francis T. O’Brien Jr., said in a statement.

"Commendably, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office recognized this and the matter was appropriately resolved as a civil, non criminal, infraction. This was a fair and proper resolution and the matter is closed."

Hill's baseball future remains unresolved, however. The 39-year-old Milton, Mass., native spent the last four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers but reportedly has discussed a return to his hometown Red Sox in free agency.

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