The boyfriend of MLB Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley’s homeless daughter has been arrested in connection to the heinous crime of abandoning a baby who was just born in the freezing New Hampshire woods.
George Theberge, 45, was arrested on Wednesday around 7pm by Manchester police on Mast Road in the Westside Manchester neighborhood.
The convicted felon and drug dealer was allegedly present when Alexandra Eckersley, the 26-year-old adopted daughter of Boston Red Sox pitcher and Hall of Famer, gave birth to the baby boy in bone-chilling temperatures that reached as low as 10F.
Theberge now faces charges of felony tampering with witnesses, reckless conduct and endangering the welfare of a child. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday at Hillsborough Superior Court North.
The baby’s mother was arrested on December 26, 2022 on multiple charges and has since been released on bail.
George Theberge, 45, was arrested on Wednesday around 7pm by Manchester police on Mast Road in the Westside Manchester neighborhood
Alexandra Eckersley, the 26-year-old homeless and adopted daughter of Red Sox legend Dennis Eckersley gave birth to the baby boy in bone-chilling temperatures before leaving him alone in a tent in the remote New Hampshire woods
Police allegedly found the baby uncovered and ‘struggling to breathe’ on the floor of a tent near the Piscataquag River. The newborn miraculously survived the unimaginable act and Alexandra was promptly arrested.
The couple had been living in a makeshift tent in squalor conditions in a homeless encampment in the New Hampshire woods.
Alexandra told investigators during a bombshell confession revealing that Theberge left the baby behind, as well, when he went back to the tent to turn off a propane heater.
Theberge’s photo had not been circulated until DailyMail.com released it after Alexander’s arrest.
The ex-con was arrested by New Hampshire police back in 2017 during a drug raid that saw cops confiscate $24,000 worth of fentanyl, crack cocaine, and several thousands of dollars in cash.
The couple had been living in the the woods at the site of several homeless encampments, including one disbanded by cops last year known as ‘The Bucket’, with Theberge among the several squatters kicked out.
Theberge described his disdain for the city’s decision to break up the encampment – while also expressing his and others’ preference to living outdoors as opposed to a shelter.
‘Some people don’t want to be inside,’ Theberge told NPHR in June 2021. ‘If they want to come to an encampment like this, or a community, [the city] could give us that option. Don’t force us to go into a shelter.’
Prior to that, Thebergehad been staying at 472 Granite St, property records show – a drug den that came under cops’ radar as a suspected crack house back in 2017.
Theberge and three others were arrested on July 28, 2017, at approximately 5:50 am, after a SWAT team executed an early-morning raid of the premises.
Once inside, cops discovered a litany of drugs, cash, and other illicit paraphernalia – though Theberge was arrested on another police department’s warrant.
Records show that Theberge has had multiple other run-ins with the town police force, being arrested at least nine times for offenses including felony stalking, assault, and possession of a weapon.
A woman who has interacted with him on Facebook told DailyMail.com: ‘To me he’s just one of the random guys that always send me friend requests on Facebook.’
Theberge, however, was not arrested last Monday after cops responded to a call from his girlfriend reporting she was giving birth in woods near city’s the West Side Arena hockey rink – not far from the evacuated encampment – just after 12am.
Cops would eventually make contact with Alexandra – just outside the wooded area – who had already given birth. The baby, however – as well as Theberge – were nowhere to be found.
Alexandra – who was adopted by the Eckersley and ex-partner Nancy O’Neill in 1996 – then allegedly proceeded to lead police around the wood for 73 minutes, telling them she was bringing them to the child.
Eventually they arrived at the tent she shared with Theberge, where the baby was found, alone, in temperatures that reached as low as 10F.
Officers said the infant was found ‘unclothed,’ and had been struggling to breathe.
When asked why she didn’t bring her baby to meet with police and the ambulance, she told officers: ‘What do they tell you when a plane goes down? Save yourself first.’
She was subsequently hospitalized and booked by officers, charged with felony reckless conduct, endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree assault with extreme indifference and falsifying physical evidence.
She was arraigned over the phone on December 27th and appeared in court virtually while being treated at the hospital.
Dennis Eckersley, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox is seen here pitching from the mound during a game on September 1978
Eckersley is seen in a photo when he played for the Celeveland between 1975 and 1977
Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics pictured at the 2019 Hall of Fame ceremony on September 21, 2019 in Oakland, California
The case had garnered national attention due to the celebrity status of Alexandra’s adopted father, who is now reportedly fighting to gain guardianship of the newborn after his daughter’s alleged actions.
In a statement to WCVB on Thursday, the Eckersley family said they were ‘in complete shock’ after learning about the tragedy through the outpouring of new reports.
They also said they did not even know that Alexandra had been pregnant.
‘We are utterly devastated by the events that unfolded on Christmas night when our daughter Allie delivered a baby while living in a tent,’ the family’s official statement read.
‘It is heartbreaking that a child was born under such unthinkable conditions and in such tragic circumstances.
‘We learned with everyone else from news reports what happened and are still in complete shock. We had no prior knowledge of Allie’s pregnancy.’
The family then thanked first responders in Manchester for saving their ‘innocent’ grandson – as well as hospital staff for everything they did to ensure his well-being.
‘Allie is our beloved daughter who we adopted at birth. Though it is painful to share, we feel it necessary to offer greater context of Allie’s circumstances and background,’ the statement continued, before claiming that ‘the system’ had failed the 26-year-old, who they said struggles with mental illness.
‘Allie has suffered from severe mental illness her entire life. Allie was hospitalized numerous times for her illness and lived in several residential programs. We did our very best to get Allie all of the help and support humanly possible.
‘Once Allie became an adult there was even less, we could do because she was legally free to make her own decisions as long as she was not a danger to herself or others.
The family went on to say they could not ‘force her to receive treatment’ but try to provide the young mother support where they can.
‘Since she was twenty, Allie chose to live on the streets in New Hampshire. As in many states, the mental health system in New Hampshire is broken,’ the statement said.
‘The state hospital used to have 2500 psychiatric beds. Now there are less than 200 for more than 1.2 million citizens and the state was forced to eliminate another 48 beds this fall because of staff shortages.
‘Without adequate inpatient beds for crisis, treatment and stabilization, a state mental system fails,’ the statement continued.
‘We have always offered Allie a path home, but she has made other choices. We hope Allie now accepts the treatment she desperately needs for her mental health issues.
‘We also hope that all those who have heard this tragic story withhold judgment about our daughter until all the facts come out.’
The family added that they have filed a petition for guardianship for Allie’s son.
‘We are in the process of filing a guardianship petition so that we may receive information and have decision making with respect to Allie’s son,’ the statement said.
‘We thank you for your support and prayers for this beautiful, innocent baby boy. We hope people understand what an agonizing situation this is, and we respectfully ask for privacy.
‘Accordingly, we will have no further comment on this matter for the time being.’
Alexandra has since claimed that Theberge was also present during her baby’s birth, and that he actually went back to the tent to turn off his tablet and propane heater, leaving the baby behind in the cold.
She also claimed that prior to police arriving, the pair agreed they would not lead officers to their tent in fear it would be torn down and taken away, leaving them without shelter during the winter.
‘Eckersley admitted that she had a conversation with George where they agreed to tell the police that the incident occurred at the soccer fields so that the police would not find and take their tents,’ police said in Alexandra’s arrest report.
‘Eckersley was stating that it is very hard to survive if they had lost their tent because of the cold temperatures during the winter in Manchester. Eckersley stated that this is the reason they turned off the propane heat.’
Outreach workers who had interacted with Eckersley in October were shocked to learn that she was pregnant, as she did not appear to be when they last saw her.
It is not clear if Theberge is the baby’s father. The child is currently in the custody of child protective services.
Eckersley, nicknamed ‘Eck,’ was an American professional baseball pitcher and former commentator, who gained superstar status as a starter and eventually a closer for teams including he Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals.
With a career spanning 1975 and 1998, the 68-year-old gained prominence after becoming the first of two pitchers in major league history to have both a 20-win season and a 50-save season in a career.
He played 24 seasons and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004, after which he served as a commentator for Red Sox broadcasts.