Former Met star Roberto Alomar – beaned by a $15 million lawsuit claiming he had unprotected sex with an ex-girlfriend while infected with AIDs – yesterday swung back, insisting, “I am in very good health.”
The 12-time All-Star blasted the suit filed by Ilya Dall, saying “It is filled with lies, and I am deeply saddened that someone I care for would make such terrible accusations and try to hurt me in this way.” In the statement, first reported last night on ESPN.com, Alomar called the situation “a very private, personal matter.
“I am in very good health and I ask that you respect my privacy during this time.”
Earlier yesterday, Alomar flew to New York – looking thin and accompanied by a beautiful woman – to huddle with lawyers about the bombshell suit.
When he emerged from the meeting, he ducked questions about Dall’s startling claims and bolted to a waiting car, keeping a piece of paper in front of his face.
His vivacious new gal pal, Maripily Rivera, came to his defense in an interview with a Puerto Rican television station picked up by the newspaper Primera Hora.
Dall’s suit is “a vile lie,” said Rivera, who’s been dating the ex-Met for the past six months.
“It’s not true. It’s a very delicate case. He feels comfortable because when you’re telling the truth, you don’t have anything to hide.”
She reiterated the former second baseman’s assertion of good health and boasted she’s had him on a good diet.
“He’s never gotten sick with me,” she said. “We train together and he has well-defined and beautiful arms.”
Dall, Rivera insisted, “is trying to destroy him. That won’t happen. . . . We’re not surprised by the allegations.”
Dall was romantically involved with Alomar from 2002 until late last year, claiming the ball player – a strong candidate for the Hall of Fame – repeatedly told her he’d tested negative for HIV, despite developing symptoms linked to AIDS.
Dall’s suit says she learned Alomar took an HIV test in 2006 – which came back positive – and he was diagnosed soon after with full-blown AIDS.
At that point, her suit says, Dall “completely stopped having unprotected sex” with the 41-year-old Alomar.
Dahl, 31, says in her suit that she later tested negative for HIV. She refused to comment yesterday at her Whitestone, Queens, home.
“I don’t believe it until I hear Robbie Alomar say that it’s true,” said pitcher Al Leiter, his former Met and Toronto teammate.
Additional reporting by Kavita Mokha