Police bodycam footage shows UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] in a fragile state of mind while he was arrested earlier this week in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M.
Jones, 32, was charged with aggravated DWI, negligent use of a firearm, possession of an open container, and no proof of insurance after being booked by police early Thursday morning.
In the arrest video, Jones, who is sitting in the driver’s seat of a black 2019 Jeep, admits to responding officer Brian Johnson that he’s had “like a drink” of vodka before the officer asks him to step out of the vehicle. From there, Jones is questioned further and instructed on a series of sobriety tests as two other officers observe. As he struggles with the tests, Jones tells Johnson that he suffers from attention deficit disorder (“ADD”) “because he gets punched in the head for a living” and short-term memory loss. Once completed, Johnson asks Jones to turn around and put his hands behind his back to be placed in handcuffs.
At this point, Jones starts to exhibit signs of a mental and emotional breakdown. Although parts of the audio are hard to hear, MMA Junkie took a closer listen and discovered some revealing moments the average viewer might’ve missed (highlighted in the video above and bullet points below).
- The moment the handcuffs go on, Jones stresses that he has anxiety. “I have anxiety. I have anxiety,” he says. In response, Johnson says he’ll give Jones two handcuffs, presumably so the fit isn’t so tight.
- Jones tells the officers that he loves them before asking if they would allow him to take off his hoodie. Moments later, that turns into a plea. “I just gotta take off my hoodie. Please, please.” When asked by an officer why, Jones replies, “Just because my anxiety gets so bad.” Jones is told that they’ll allow him to take it off at the police station.
- Seconds later, as he’s being escorted to a police cruiser, Jones is seemingly desperate to take off his hoodie. “Please, guys. Just let me take off my hoodie,” he says. Johnson says he’ll oblige the request and asks Jones if he’d like to take off the hoodie himself. For the first time, Jones’ voice appears to crack. “No, you can. I just want you guys to feel comfortable,” he says.
- The weight of the moment seems to hit Jones hard. “My family, man. So scared for my family,” he says while being briefly uncuffed. He then asks the officers a peculiar question while apparently trying to hold back tears. “Is everything slower because of the coronavirus, or what?” he says before again mentioning his family. “Everything’s been going bad. I just wanna be with my family.”
- With his hoodie off, the final time we hear Jones’ voice is while he’s sitting in the back of the cruiser. “Sir, if it’s not too much, could you roll down the window?”
Jones, who has a years-long history of run-ins with the law, has been open about his use of drugs and alcohol. In 2016, he told USA TODAY Sports that he used to be “a drug addict.” In late 2018, he told ESPN that he still was drinking and smoking marijuana “every once in a while.”
The UFC champ hasn’t been so forthcoming about any struggles with mental health, but the bodycam video of his arrest – with admissions of suffering from ADD, short-term memory loss and anxiety – seems to shed light on potential issues.
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