UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones was arrested Monday in a hit-and-run accident that broke the arm of a pregnant woman.
The Albuquerque Police Department said Monday that while the broken arm is not a life-threatening injury, it is still serious enough to raise the charges from a misdemeanor to a felony.
The Albuquerque PD announced on its Twitter account Monday evening that “an arrest warrant issued for UFC fighter Jon Jones” had been posted and an offer made to the fighter to turn himself in voluntarily.
According to Ariel Helwani of Fox Sports both the police and the UFC had told him around 9 p.m. that Mr. Jones was in police custody.
The police report on the accident, released to the public Monday, said that the driver of a 2015 Buick SUV fled the scene after causing a three-car accident by running a traffic light. Marijuana and a pipe, along with mixed-martial-arts goods were found inside the car.
According to eyewitnesses cited in the police report, the driver started to flee, went back inside the vehicle to grab a large amount of cash and then fled again in earnest.
Mr. Jones was identified by a policeman as the man fleeing the scene, and the police are not seeking anyone else in the accident.
Mr. Jones, who has had several run-ins with police, drugs and driving in recent years, has been missing since the accident, which occurred Sunday.
A felony arrest would almost certainly cancel a Las Vegas title defense Mr. Jones has scheduled for next month in Las Vegas against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.
On social media Monday, Mr. Johnson implied that the fight had not been officially called off, saying on Facebook that “despite all the rumors you have been hearing, they dont stop me or keep me from being focused … Staying on my grind.”
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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