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Jon Jones is off the hook in his most recent run-in with the law.
Prosecutors have dismissed all charges against the former UFC two-division champion, who allegedly fled the scene of a car accident Feb. 21 in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M. Jones was facing two charges stemming from the incident – one for leaving the scene of an accident and another for use of telephone to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend. But upon further review, the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office found “reason to believe (Jones’) alibi defense is credible,” according to court documents obtained by TMZ.
“We have been fully vindicated,” Jones’ attorney, Christopher Dodd, said in a statement (h/t Aaron Brosteter). “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.”
In the early morning hours of Feb. 21, Albuquerque police responded to the scene of a car accident in which a woman, half-naked from the waste down, was seated in the passenger’s side. The woman told police Jones was driving the vehicle, adding that they both were drinking before leaving his home. During the interaction with police, the woman called a man who sounded like Jones and had him speak to a responding officer on speaker phone. The man, who never identified himself, made threatening remarks.
“My brothers, they kill people for way less,” the voice stated. “If something happens to me, dude, she’s (the woman in the car) flat and dead.”
Jones later appeared to implicate himself as the voice on the phone after police released bodycam footage of the incident.
Still that wasn’t enough to pursue charges for the DA, which was lauded by Jones’ attorney, who also criticized the Albuquerque Police Department’s handling of the incident.
“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 said. “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.”
Jones, 38, has more than a decade of history finding himself in trouble with the law, ranging from a previous 2015 hit-and-run case involving a pregnant woman to an alleged 2022 incident of domestic abuse in Las Vegas, and many more.
Jones retired and vacated the UFC heavyweight championship earlier this year only to quickly re-enter the UFC drug-testing pool in hopes of returning to fight at the UFC White House event planned for next July, which Dana White has said is a longshot to happen.
