MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors filed two criminal charges against baseball Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, accusing him of dragging a woman into a restaurant bathroom and groping her.

        After the charges were announced Friday, Puckett's attorney, Chris Madel, said prosecutors were treating the former Minnesota Twins star differently from other people.

        “If this were anybody else, this case would have never seen the light of day. We will meet and we will beat these allegations in court,” Madel said. “It seems strange to me that this is the way the county attorney thanks Kirby Puckett for all he has done for the state of Minnesota.”

        Prosecutors cited statements from witnesses and injuries suffered by the woman for the decision. They charged the 41-year-old Puckett with a felony count of false imprisonment and a gross misdemeanor count of criminal sexual conduct.

        “Like most Minnesotans, I remember watching Mr. Puckett help the Twins win two World Series, and he's a great Hall of Fame baseball player. But that night, in that bar, he was no one's hero,” Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said.

        If convicted, Puckett probably would be put on probation and given less than a year in the county workhouse. It's unlikely he would be sentenced to the legal maximum of four years in prison and $8,000 in fines, Klobuchar said.

        Puckett didn't appear at a brief hearing Friday. He was summoned to report to the county jail for formal booking Monday afternoon. He won't have to post the $20,000 bail prosecutors initially sought unless he fails to report. A date for his next hearing has not been set.

        Puckett retired in 1995 after 12 seasons with the Twins, a team he helped win the World Series in 1987 and 1991. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year.

        According to the complaint, the victim was waiting to use the women's restroom at the restaurant in a Minneapolis suburb on Sept. 6 when Puckett grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the men's room. She told police that Puckett pushed her into a stall and put his hand on one of her breasts for several seconds. She said that after a friend of hers yelled into the restroom, Puckett let her go.

        The Twins, for whom Puckett works as executive vice president, issued a statement saying they're taking the charges seriously and “intend to monitor the situation closely as the legal process runs its course.”

        Puckett played in 10 All-Star games during his career, which was cut short by glaucoma. He is blind in his right eye.

        He finished with a .318 batting average, the best career mark by a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio. Puckett's 2,040 hits are the most by any player in his first 10 seasons.

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