Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
More information has surfaced about the crash B.J. Penn was involved in last week.
Contrary to the police reports published about the incident, B.J. Penn’s family rep says the vehicle Penn was driving never flipped in the crash he was involved in last week, and the Hawaiian was knocked out by the airbag.
Reports stated that the UFC Hall of Famer Penn was the only occupant of a truck involved in a crash on Route 11 in Hilo last Friday. Penn’s rep Gary Levitt is disputing the police reports that said Penn was speeding then lost control of his truck, causing it to flip over.
A DUI investigation has been opened against Penn following the results of a blood sample obtained while he was in the hospital after the crash.
“No one has the facts yet, and from the facts we have looked at, the truck never flipped, there was not extensive damage on it that they say there was, and B.J. was, in fact, knocked out because the front airbag deployed,” Levitt said about the incident. “He was taken to the hospital and then a short time later, he was taken for scans because he was knocked out and he was going in and out. Then, they released him from the hospital.”
Penn (16-14) has had a troubled last few years inside and outside of the Octagon. Losing his last seven MMA fights, Penn was released by the UFC despite having a fight scheduled against Nik Lentz after footage surfaced of him in a bar fight in Hawaii. Last year, Penn’s girlfriend accused him of domestic and sexual abuse, and had a restraining order issued against him.