Jon Jones Cleared of Charges Following February Incident
UFC heavyweight ex-champion Jon Jones has been exonerated of all charges related to an incident that occurred in February. The Bernalillo County, New Mexico, district attorney decided to drop the charges on Tuesday, arguing that there is “reason to believe that the defendant’s alibi defense is credible”. This case presented a particularity: the charges were brought against Jones on two occasions due to an “administrative error.” This led to the dismissal of multiple cases arising from the same incident.The charges against Jones arose from a car accident that occurred on February 21 in Albuquerque, Jones’ hometown. Police responded to the scene, where they found a semi-nude woman inside the vehicle, who claimed that Jones was driving and fled the scene. Body camera footage showed the woman subsequently calling a man she identified as Jones, who then made verbal threats to the officer at the scene. In June, Jones appeared to implicate himself as the man on the phone, by writing and then deleting from X: “whoever was on the phone with me at first, their timestamp is different. By the time I was acting aggressive on the phone, it was a completely different conversation. I was already in my paranoid and defensive state.” Throughout his career, Jones has faced various legal issues. In 2015, he was arrested and charged with a felony hit-and-run after leaving the scene of an accident that left a 25-year-old pregnant woman injured. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was sentenced to supervised probation. Additionally, Jones pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence in 2012 in New York and in 2020 in New Mexico. Considered by many as the best fighter of all time, Jones retired from competition earlier this year instead of trying to unify his heavyweight title against interim champion Tom Aspinall. However, he quickly announced his intention to come back from retirement with the hope of competing in the event planned by the UFC at the White House next July.I want to start by thanking the prosecution for carefully reviewing the facts and, ultimately, vindicating me completely. I have always believed in the importance of truth and justice, and I am grateful that the evidence spoke for itself. The fact is simple: I was never there. I didn’t even leave my house that night, and all the evidence proved it.
Jon Jones
