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Jon Jones apparently had no idea about strip club battery charge, warrant

Jon Jones is in trouble with the law, which is news to him. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Jon Jones is in trouble with the law, which was news to him. (Getty Images)

If Jon Jones is in trouble, it’s news to him.

According to Albuquerque news station KRQE 13, the UFC light heavyweight champion was made aware on Sunday that a judge had issued a warrant for him last month when he failed to appear to answer to battery charges. Jones claims he knew nothing about the warrant, his failure to appear or any battery charges at all.

The battery charges stem from an incident in April, when Jones was in Albuquerque. He was at the strip club TD’s Eubank Showclub when KRQE reported that he allegedly slapped a waitress inappropriately, pulled her onto his lap, kissed her neck, put her into a chokehold and picked her up off the ground. She asked him to stop but he wouldn’t, and he allegedly continued touching her until he left the establishment.

The police filed a battery charge against Jones after the waitress called them to her home to file a complaint. Jones then failed to appear at a bond arraignment in June, which is when the judge issued a bench warrant. KRQE reported that the court also tried to send Jones a letter alerting him to the warrant, but the letter was returned to them.

The warrant was active when Jones was in Las Vegas facing Thiago Santos during UFC 239, but the Albuquerque Police Department told KRQE that they never arrested him because they’re not usually alerted to “petty misdemeanor warrants like this.”

According to Jones spokesperson James Hallinan, Jones had no idea about the battery charge or the warrant until the news station told them over the weekend.

“Today, the media told Mr. Jones about a false accusation launched against him and that paperwork had been sent to an incorrect address. However, after receiving the documents from the press, Mr. Jones immediately went to pay the small fee, and he, and multiple witnesses, stand ready to factually refute the malicious lies being told about him to the public.”

Jones paid the $300 cash bond on Sunday, and the warrant was lifted. And he doesn’t seem particularly worried about the incident at all.

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