Former (and supposedly retired) UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is in the free and clear after having several criminal charges dropped.
In charges that came to light over the summer, Jones was accused of fleeing the scene of an accident stemming from a February incident involving allegations made by a woman found in the passenger seat of a crashed vehicle, who fingered “Bones” as the driver. A man identified as Jones was later heard in a phone exchange with Albuquerque police, making comments that could have been interpreted as threatening.
On Tuesday, SportsNet’s Aaron Bronsteter released a statement from Jones’ lawyer, Christopher Dodd, stating that the charges had been dropped, with dismissal paperwork filed.
“We have been fully vindicated. 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,” the statement reads. “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. At the same time, it is deeply troubling that such critical evidence was disregarded, forcing Jon to endure this ordeal unnecessarily. Our investigation into how this occurred remains ongoing.”
In addition to Dodd’s statement, Jon Jones himself has now commented on the matter.
“I want to begin by thanking the district attorney’s office for carefully reviewing the facts and ultimately vindicating me completely. I have always believed in the importance of truth and fairness, and I am grateful that the evidence spoke for itself,” wrote Jones on social media. “The simple fact is this: I was never there. I never even left my house that night, and all the evidence proved that.”
“In this case, there was a rush to judgment before any real evidence was gathered. I understand that, in the court of public opinion, the allegations may have seemed believable, especially given my past mistakes. But by the time these claims were made public, I had just retired from competition, and that moment was stolen from me by someone who made false accusations to avoid a DWI and any real accountability.”
“I sincerely hope that this individual is held responsible by Albuquerque’s law enforcement. They not only disrupted my retirement but also made our police department appear negligent in the process,” added Jones. “It is deeply troubling that, in today’s world, a single false accusation can take so much away from someone before any evidence is even considered.”
Jones’ reference to his past mistakes includes a 2015 incident where he fled the scene of a car crash, after he hit another vehicle driven by a pregnant woman. Jones then returned to the scene to collect cash and drug paraphernalia he’d left in his car, before fleeing a second time, without checking on the condition of the victim. Jones was later stripped of his UFC light heavyweight title, one of three times the UFC stripped titles from the fighter during his career. The victim in that incident suffered a broken arm.
