After a litany of criminal allegations following a hit-and-run incident that occurred Sunday morning in which a pregnant women was injured, Jon “Bones” Jones made his first court appearance before a New Mexican judge earlier today.
Jon Jones First Appearance in Court
Standing before the court with his legal team, The light heavyweight champion had the travel restrictions lifted on his continued bond issued by the Albuquerque Metropolitan court. “Bones” is legally clear to fight… whether he does or not is another story. During the course of his morning drive on Sunday in a rented car struck the vehicle of an expecting mother, Vanessa Sonnenberg, breaking her arm. A third vehicle was also apparently involved. The criminal charges against the champ stem from his apparent exit on foot from the scene of the crime. Police claim to have also found marijuana and related paraphernalia in the vehicle which was rented under his wife’s name.
Following the arrest warrant issued for felony hit-and-run in his name on Monday; the champ decided it was wise to turn himself in.After posting $2500 bail in cash, Jon Jones was released on the aforementioned bond. The Fertitta brothers and president Dana White were also spotted meeting with the light heavyweight king and his personal attorney. Things couldn’t possibly be more serious for the champion at this moment with another title defense less than a month away. Not to mention that this is only the beginning of the legal hurdles ahead of Jones. This could be a long road for the entire company in the foreseeable future. A grand jury will decide the whether the case is worth pursuing in the future, but things are not looking good considering the gravity of the situation and the magnitude of public scrutiny. Still, the fight hasn’t been officially called off…yet.
This isn’t the first time the bad boy of UFC champions has been in trouble either.Jones had the well-documented cocaine incident just after his fight with Daniel Cormier. This isn’t even the first time he’s committed some kind of vehicular crime… He was arrested for driving while impaired back in 2012. At 27, “Bones” is old enough to know better. This time karma will probably catch up to him. Can anyone say “Mike Tyson”?
If the fans do get lucky and still get a mega-card, Jones will defend his belt in the main event at UFC 187 on May 23rd in Las Vegas.
Watch the champ’s brief court appearance here:
