Jon Jones` attorney is expressing strong disapproval regarding the Albuquerque Police Department`s decision to charge the former UFC champion with leaving the scene of an accident that occurred in February.
Christopher Dodd, who has represented Jones in other legal matters, issued a public statement vigorously refuting this latest accusation. Jones faces a misdemeanor count for allegedly leaving the site of a car crash. The woman involved in the incident, whom police described as showing “signs of significant intoxication and lacking clothing from the waist down,” claimed Jones was driving her car at the time of the crash and then fled on foot.
“As Jon’s lawyer, I am stunned by the Albuquerque Police Department’s decision to charge him in this new case,” Dodd said in his statement. “In the thousands of cases I have handled in my career, I have never seen a case as strange and unwarranted as this one.”
Dodd continued, “Jon was not driving that night; he wasn’t in the car. It appears that an intoxicated woman used a false allegation against Jon to avoid being arrested for DWI, and the police fell for it. Based on the criminal complaint, it looks like they went so far as to seek a warrant for Jon’s cell phone records while conducting a misdemeanor traffic investigation. I have never heard of such a thing.”
He added, “It is truly unbelievable that the police would waste this amount of resources on such a case. The only thing I can think of is that the police were targeting Jon for improper purposes. We will get to the bottom of it and make sure that this baseless case is dismissed.”
According to a police report, Jones informed authorities that the woman was at his home earlier that evening where they shared alcoholic drinks. He stated she left his residence while intoxicated and later contacted him to report the accident.
The woman involved claimed she had reservations about drinking with Jones, citing past incidents where she alleged he forced her to drive home intoxicated. She further claimed Jones assured her this wouldn`t happen again, and that they consumed alcohol and mushrooms together.
An alleged “restroom incident” reportedly led the woman to remove her pants, with the understanding that Jones would drive her home to get different clothes. She told police she distinctly remembers Jones being the last person driving her vehicle before the crash and has no other memory of the events that evening.
Police obtained Jones`s phone records, which placed his device near the location where the woman claimed they were drinking before the accident. Records show a gap in activity from Jones`s phone between 10:51 P.M. and 2:11 A.M., after which his device was tracked to the northeast heights area of Albuquerque.
Police noted that at 2:11 A.M., the woman attempted to call Jones, but he did not answer. Between 2:17 A.m. and 11:34 A.M. the following morning, Jones called the woman 13 times.
Body camera footage reportedly shows Jones sending numerous text messages to the woman in addition to his phone calls, although the content of these messages was not available from the call logs.
The period when Jones`s phone records show a gap coincides with the estimated time of the accident. Based on the available evidence, police concluded he “cannot be excluded from the scene,” leading to the charges being filed against him.
Jones`s next court appearance is scheduled for July 24th.
This new criminal complaint surfaced shortly after Jones`s announcement that he was “retiring” and vacating his heavyweight title, opting not to face interim champion Tom Aspinall. UFC CEO Dana White later stated he was unaware of any pending charges against Jones until the morning after the announcement, while traveling back from Azerbaijan.
