Truesee's Daily Wonder

Reds pitcher Mike Leake was booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center by Cincinnati police on Monday, April 18, 2011. / Provided/Hamilton County Sheriff's Office

Reds pitcher Mike Leake was charged with misdemeanor theft hours before Monday's game after being accused of removing security tags from six T-shirts at a Downtown store and leaving without paying for them, store security and police said.

Employees at Macy's called police after they said Leake removed the tags from six American Rag T-shirts, valued at $59.88, and left the store with them.

The incident was captured by security cameras, police documents state.

Leake, 23, was arrested at the 505 Vine St. store at 2 p.m. and booked into the jail at 2:32 p.m. He was charged with theft, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum jail term of 180 days. Leake is scheduled for an initial court appearance at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Leake was in the dugout in uniform at Great American Ball Park for the Reds' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.

"Today, Mike Leake was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of theft from the Macy's store downtown," the Reds said in a statement released during Monday's game. "Right now, he has been advised by his attorney to offer no further statements on this matter. This case will proceed in the justice system, where Mike's story will be told. Until that time, there will be nothing further from Mike on this episode until the court proceedings have concluded," the statement continued. "However, Mike wishes to apologize to his family, the fans, Mr. Castellini, Walt, Dusty, his teammates and the entire Reds organization for this distraction."

Reds CEO Bob Castellini, general manager Walt Jocketty and manager Dusty Baker would not publicly address Leake's arrest, the team said.

"At this time, we are advised to not publicly address this matter because of the pending legal proceedings," the Reds' statement said. "However, we do not condone behavior of the type alleged, which is wholly inconsistent with the principles of this organization and our community and is detrimental to the positive direction we seek to follow. When the legal process has been completed, we will handle this matter internally."

An email to Major League Baseball officials was not immediately returned. In a text message, Jocketty said Monday night that the Reds had not heard from MLB regarding Leake.

Leake was not spotted by reporters before the game. But the Reds' clubhouse was closed to the media after batting practice, a time when media usually have access.

Leake, 2-0 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts this season, last pitched on Saturday against Pittsburgh and was tentatively scheduled to start Thursday against Arizona. Asked whether Leake would make that start, Reds spokesman Rob Butcher referred that question to Baker.

Leake was the Reds' first-round draft pick in 2009 out of Arizona State University, the eighth selection overall. He received a $2.3 million signing bonus and is set to make $425,000 for the 2011 season.

Leake made his debut with the Reds last season without playing in the minor leagues. He went 8-4 with a 4.23 ERA in 2010.

Staff writers Kimball Perry, Tom Groeschen and John Fay contributed.

Cincinnati.com.