UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn is looking at more legal trouble as he is under active investigation for allegedly threatening a taro farmer with a machete.
According to public records obtained by MMA Junkie, the dispute between Penn and the taro farmer is over a trespassing incident in 2018.
The news really couldn’t come at a worse time for Penn, who’s ex-wife hurled allegations of sexual assault and violence at him just a fortnight ago.
The public record states that the incident happened on Jan. 19, 2018. On that day Penn was accused of first-degree terroristic threatening and the Hawaiian Police Department issued an all-state bulletin for the UFC veteran. Penn’s crime is a Class C felony and carries up to a five-year prison sentence and/or a fine of $10,000.
Jason Grouns is a Sergeant in the Hawaiin Police Department. He spoke with MMA Junkie earlier this week and explained why the case is still classified as “open” despite being 15 months old, “all parties involved have not been located (or) contacted yet, and it cannot be routed to the prosecutors until complete. he said”
According to the APB obtained by MMA Junkie, Penn brought a machete to the man’s property and called him to come out of his farmhouse. The alleged victim “feared for his life and remained inside of his residence where he hid.” At that point, Penn reportedly “started to strike the ground with the machete and state that he was going to kill him.”
Denying The Charges
Penn then is alleged to have come back to the man’s house later in the day and damage his gate with his ATV. Per the report, the victim “felt unsafe there and feared for his life so he left the area and reported the incident to police.”
Penn family attorney, Gary Levitt denied any violence perpetrated by Penn. He added Penn has not been contacted by the police in relation to this incident.
“B.J. said he’s never given a statement to the police; they haven’t told him he’s got a terroristic threatening charge, or there are charges pending,” Levitt said. “He just said there was an incident, it was over one year ago, and it had to do with a gate. There was no threatening or machete or anything like that.”
Penn will return to the Octagon at UFC 237 on May 11 when he takes on Clay Guida.
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