Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Officer Jason Brown has apparently had prior interactions with Jon Jones before Jones’ arrest on Thursday morning.
When UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was encountered a police officer early Thursday morning, it was apparently a face he recognized — officer Jason C. Brown of the Albuquerque Police Department.
At around 4:40am on March 26th Brown and another officer headed Alburquerque’s Central Street after hearing a single gun shot. On Central the officers reportedly discovered Jones in a running jeep with an unknown suspect sat on a curb close by.
According to Brown’s report, he spoke to Jones and suspected he was under the influence, so he called in DWI officer Brian Johnson to conduct sobriety tests. Ultimately, Jones was arrested under DWI and firearms charges.
According to attorney David Serna (via MMA Fighting), Jason Brown is the same officer that pulled over Jones in 2016 and accused of him of drag racing, leading to a verbal confrontation between the two men where Jones referred to Brown as a “pig”.
Following that instance, Jones took to social media to speak on alleged racial profiling complaints against the officer in question. An Albuquerque Journal article stated that there have been three prior civilian reports of racial profiling brought against the officer.
Serna stated that their prior run-ins might give his criminal defense lawyers some leverage:
“He’s certainly a well-known member of the DWI unit,” Serna said of Brown. “It’s a bad luck thing when the initial cop that stops you happens to be a member of the DWI unit.
“Who knows, he may have had a thing out for this defendant. I’d be surprised if the (defense) lawyers don’t argue there was some pretext or vindictive prosecution, just because he’s had run-ins with this same guy before. I think the defense would certainly assert that this particular cop is after this particular guy.”
Jones is scheduled to attend court for a bond hearing on April 8th, though that could be delayed by the current coronavirus pandemic.