Jon Jones has released a statement following the police releasing footage of the former UFC star's alleged car crash.
Jones, 37, announced his retirement from the UFC last week. But just hours after the news it emerged that he was allegedly involved in a car accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
It emerged that charges were filed against the 37-year-old, as the Albuquerque Journal reported that Jones is facing a criminal summons over a misdemeanour charge of leaving the scene of an accident.
Jones was charged on June 17 and is due back in court for a bond arraignment on July 24, although, as per MMA Fighting, the date of the alleged incident is actually listed as February 24.
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Jones' lawyer, Christopher Dodd, issued a statement via Ariel Helwani on June 23.
"As Jon’s lawyer, I am stunned by the Albuquerque Police Department’s decision to charge him in this new case,” the statement read.
"In the thousands of cases I have handled in my career, I have never seen a case as strange and unwarranted as this one. 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. 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.”
Police bodycam footage of the alleged incident – see below - has since been released, while Jones broke his silence on June 25 but did not mention the case.
Replying to a fan’s well wishes, Jones wrote on X: "Thank you, so far it’s going really amazing. Outside of the silly lies and distractions. Just became owner of another company. I would say first year in retirements going pretty good. Two new businesses in the books.”
In another post he added: “One thing we all know about snakes, you let them hang around long enough, it’s only a matter of time before you get bit. It’s good to be real with the people that’s known you for a long time, but sometimes it’s OK to outgrow people. These are reasons why.”
Luke Davies