Jon Jones out of jail on $2,500 bail

“To see a man beaten not by a better opponent but by himself is a tragedy.”

-Cus D’Amato

Early Sunday morning, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones reportedly ran a red light, hit a car being driven by a pregnant woman, and fled from the scene. Witnesses, including an off-duty police officer, reported that Jones ran back to the car, stuffed some money into his pants, and fled again. A quantity of Marijuana and a Marijuana pipe were left in the car. The vehicle, a silver Buick SUV rental, had paperwork identifying Jones as the renter.

Jones has been arrested without incident, after turning himself in at 7:11 p.m. Mountain Time.

Date: 4/27/2015 8:50:08 PM

Name: JONES, JONATHAN

Age: 27

Sex: MALE

Race: BLACK

Arrival Date: 4/27/2015 7:11:32 PM

Cell Number: XXX

Warrant Comment: LEAVE SCENE ACCIDENT W/ DEATH OR PERSONAL INJ

Bail Details

Bond Amount: $2500

Bond Description: CASH ONLY

He is now out of jail, after posting bail.

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani‏

UFC has acknowledged that Jones is in custody & they tell me, as of right now, they don’t expect to provide any further statements tonight.

The Albuquerque Police Department had previously said that Jones will be turning himself in.

Albuquerque Police ‏@ABQPOLICE

An arrest warrant issued for UFC fighter Jon Jones. Arrangements have been made for Mr. Jones to turn himself in

The Tweet also contains a link to the Criminal Complaint – Arrest Warrant, that details what happened.

When the story broke, the initial reports were that cocaine was found in the vehicle. This is emphatically false.

Brett Okamoto @bokamotoESPN

•ABQ off duty policeman identified Jones running from three-car accident. He was in a rental car. Marijuana pipe inside.

•No cocaine was found in the rental car Jones fled. ABQ spokesperson was very clear on that.

•According to ABQ police report, the vehicle Jones was traveling in ran a red light. Silver SUV, rented.

•According to police report, suspect fled then returned to the car to grab a large hand full of cash.

•If it’s true Jones ran back to vehicle for cash, that means he ran away from potential injured woman, came back for money, left her again.

Marc Raimondi ‏@marc_raimondi

NAC executive director Bob Bennett tells me that Jones has passed out-of-competition drug tests. Of course, those wouldn’t be for rec drugs.

Ramondi for MMAFighting.com, based in part on this police report, provided further details.

The driver whose car was initially hit, a pregnant woman in her 20s, was taken to the hospital, because she felt like “she was going to pass out,” the report stated. The woman said she was struck by the vehicle believed to be driven by Jones after it ran a red light. Police said Sunday that she has minor injuries.

Albuquerque PD spokesman Tanner Tixier confirmed that police still have not heard from Jones nor his lawyer.

“We are currently following up with the victim to check on her health status,” Tixier said.

“We need to confirm the severity of the injuries before we file charges.”

The 25-year-old pregnant woman reportedly suffered a broken arm, and the fighter now faces felony charges.

This is an image of the heavily damaged rental.

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani

From ABQ PD:

We are working on an arrest warrant for Jon Jones.

The female suffered a broken arm which has elevated the charge to Felony Leaving the Scene of an Accident.

The victim’s pregnancy appears to have been unaffected.

We received a call from a local attorney who is representing himself as Mr. Jones’ lawyer, but we haven’t confirmed that.

Brett Okamoto @bokamotoESPN

•Spoke with legal expert on alleged Jones H+R. If it can be proven he was under influence, that’s very, very bad for him.

•The under the influence part is critical, since he pled guilty to DWI three years ago.

The primary UFC sponsor, Reebok, has not made a decision on whether to keep Jones on.

Reebok ‏@Reebok

We’rereserving judgement until more facts about the incident and Jones’ involvement are available.

The New York Times offered a sobering reminder of Jones’ legal problems and questionable behavior during his title reign.

Mr. Jones was arrested in 2012 after crashing his Bentley into a telephone pole in Binghamton, New York. He had his driver’s license suspended after being charged with DWI, but did no jail time.

Last August, Mr. Jones and challenger Daniel Cormier were involved in a brawl in the lobby of the MGM Grand casino while appearing at a promotional event. Mr. Jones was fined $50,000 and ordered to do community service by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

In early December, Mr. Jones tested positive for metabolites of cocaine while training for his bout. Mr. Jones was allowed to compete because the test was conducted out of competition, and he beat Mr. Cormier.

When the failed drug test became public, Mr. Jones publicly apologized for a mistake, but spent just one day in a drug rehabilitation center before checking himself out.

Back in 2011 Rich Franklin said there was only person who could beat Jones.

“I think the only person who can beat Jon Jones at this point in time is himself,” said Franklin. “He’s a young guy, the world is coming at him fast and I think his game is whether or not he can maintain focus.”

In 2012, during a conversation about sponsorship, Jones said all was clear.

We came up with a strategy to keep it clean and be sponsored by the UFC itself,” said Jones. “I’m glad the UFC wanted to work with me as well, and I think that they trust that I’ll never make them look bad. You never have to worry about me with a DWI or doing something crazy.”

Now Jones has apparently done something crazy.

Speaking to reporters, his attorney Vincent Ward said Jones is focused on the fight with Johnson.

“He wants to get down to training for this fight he has,” said the attorney, . “He wouldn’t want to be dealing with this right now, but he’s a great guy, he’s taking all this seriously.”

Whether Jones keeps his belt or fights Johnson is unknown; the UFC has contractual obligations with the fighter, and the NSAC has bylaws. That said, although all the facts are not in, it is hard to imagine that Jones will be allowed to fight Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 on May 23, 2015. A more likely course is Jon Jones spending more than one day in a drug rehabilitation center, and at the least, many days avoiding jail.

Despite a tsunami of snarkiness, this is just sad. It is sad for Jones’ children and fiancée, it is sad for his brothers and parents, it is sad for Anthony Johnson, it is sad for the fans, it is sad for the sport, and it is really, really, really sad for the 27 year old, who could have been the face of mixed martial arts, but now finds his face in a mug shot.