Charges against UFC fighter Jon Jones over leaving the scene of an accident have been dismissed.
TMZ Sports obtained the court documents and reports that the authorities in New Mexico found “reason to believe” that Jon Jones’ alibi defense is credible.
The former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion was facing one count of leaving the scene of an accident and one count of use of a telephone to terrify, intimidate, harass, annoy, or offend. Both charges are classified as misdemeanors.
On February 21, officers in Albuquerque were investigating an incident where a woman was found in the passenger seat of a vehicle and appeared to be intoxicated. The woman claimed that Jones was the driver but had fled the scene.
Body cam footage was released by the Albuquerque police, where the woman called Jones on her phone. Jones proceeded to issue threats to the police officer while mentioning that his brothers “slit throats” and “are the most evil people you will ever meet.” The officer called in another officer after the threats were issued. Jones continued, “You won’t be the first guy this year that I’ve threatened, swear to God…My brothers, they kill people for way less.”
The incident was not reported publicly until June, when a reporter for the Albuquerque Journal was researching Jones after his retirement announcement and came across the report.
After the charges were dismissed, Jones’ lawyer, Christopher Dodd, issued a statement to TMZ:
From the very beginning, we explained that a woman made a false allegation against Jon in an effort to avoid being arrested for DWI, and unfortunately, the police accepted that claim without properly weighing the facts. Once the relevant documents were finally disclosed by the police department, Jon’s cell phone records made it undeniably clear that he was nowhere near the scene of the crash. We are grateful that the district attorney’s office took the time to conduct a full and fair review of this case, which ultimately confirmed Jon’s innocence”.
Dodd added that his team is conducting an investigation into the behavior of the cops at the scene and found it troubling that the police disregarded “critical evidence” and put Jones through this ordeal.
Jones retired earlier this year and vacated the UFC heavyweight championship, but has expressed his desire to fight at the UFC’s card at the White House next July. Dana White said the chances of Jones fighting on that card are “a billion to one”.
