A professional baseball player who spent a decade in the minor leagues and had a brief but successful stint with the New York Yankees was arrested early on the Fourth of July, 10 days before oral arguments were to begin before the Hawaii Supreme Court in his attempt to stop prosecution for allegedly hitting a Honolulu police officer.

Bronson K. Sardinha was arrested on Farrington Highway in Kapolei on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant. He posted a $1,000 bail and was released. As a player and since retiring in 2011, he was cited or arrested more than 15 times for traffic violations, including drunken driving, and harassment. Sardinha pleaded no contest to some of those charges and successfully fought to have other allegations dismissed.

Honolulu attorney Thomas M. Otake, who represents Sardinha, declined comment.

On the diamond, Sardinha is local baseball royalty from a family of standout players. He made the major league with the Yankees and played for farm teams of the Mariners, Tigers, Indians and Rockies. As a player and after retiring, he volunteered his time as a coach, mentor and representative of the islands. Sardinha’s baseball career was another example that Hawaii’s talent pool is world-class.

“This is for the sport alone and Hawaii alone,” Sardinha told KHON2’s Sam Spangler at an open tryout for local kids held by the Atlanta Braves in 2015. “Just for Dan Cox to come out for the Atlanta Braves to hold this … to give kids, in a way, chase their dreams you know? Just give them that chance.”

He starred at Kameha­meha Schools and as a freshman was privileged to turn double plays as a second baseman with his brother, Duke, who was a senior shortstop on the 1998 Kameha­meha Warriors baseball team. Bronson’s major league skill was evident as a freshman, when he played second base and left field. That year Honolulu Star-­Bulletin reporter Pat Bigold described him as a “5-11, 170-pound freshman second baseman-left fielder who shows stunning potential.”

Sardinha comes from a family of professional baseball players.

Older brother Dane played six seasons in MLB for the Reds, Tigers and Phillies. The Colorado Rockies selected brother Duke with the 561st overall pick in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. Duke played in 340 games over seven minor league seasons.

Bronson Sardinha was drafted with the 34th overall pick in the 2001 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut on Sept. 15, 2007, and appeared in 10 games that season, going 6 for 9 with a pair of RBIs and six runs scored. He realized his dream to play professionally and create chances for other Hawaii players by showing several MLB organizations that Hawaii kids can consistently play the field and swing the stick at the professional level. In 10 minor league seasons he played in 1,116 games, hit .272 for his career, collected 1,104 hits, scored 620 runs, popped 108 home runs, drove in 553 runs and stole 108 bases.

In baseball America’s 2002 New York-Penn League Top 10 Prospects, Sardinha was ranked fourth, ahead of veteran major leaguer Curtis Granderson. Many top-tier professional baseball players and NFL Hall of Famer John Elway spent time in the New York Penn league. Bobby Thigpen, Marquis Grissom, Luis Alicea, Ruben Rivera, Nick Markakis and Andrew Benintendi are New York Penn league alumni.

At 2 p.m. July 15, the Supreme Court for the state of Hawaii will hear oral arguments by Sardinha’s legal team attempting to maintain the dismissal of a case for an alleged assault on a law enforcement officer.

Sardinha pleaded no contest to leaving the scene of a 2015 car collision when he was indicted for the alleged assault of the police officer on the same night. A judge dismissed the assault case, but prosecutors appealed and an appellate judge vacated the order.

On Nov. 29, 2015, at 12:25 a.m., in the parking lot of Nancy’s Kitchen, Sardinha allegedly hit an officer attempting to arrest him on a bench warrant stemming from a harassment case. The fight happened an hour and 35 minutes after he allegedly drove away from a car collision 2.1 miles away.