Atlanta Falcons pass rusher and first-round draft pick James Pearce Jr. was arrested near Miami on Saturday on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking, and fleeing police after allegedly leading police on a chase before crashing his vehicle.
The police pursuit of Pearce Jr. ended in a wild scene involving at least five officers and perhaps as many as seven as they struggled to place the elite athlete under arrest.
For struggling with the police, Pearce, 22, was charged with “resisting an officer without violence to his person.”
Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez said the police pursuit of Pearce began after a domestic dispute involving Pearce and Los Angeles Sparks star Rickea Jackson.
The Falcons released a statement acknowledging the incident involving Pearce: “We are aware of an incident involving James Pearce Jr. in Miami. We are in the process of gathering more information and will not have any further comment on an open legal matter at this time.”
Rickea, like Pearce, was also a star athlete at the University of Tennessee.
According to The Athletic, several NFL teams removed Pearce from their draft boards due to concerns about off-field issues. As for any public incidents, Pearce had only had brushes with the law over relatively minor traffic violations.
“Pearce was in San Francisco on Thursday to attend the pre-Super Bowl NFL Honors, where he finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting after leading the Falcons and all rookies with 10.5 sacks this season,” Yahoo reports.
The Falcons included a first-round pick in a trade package to move up to select Pearce 26th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. While at Tennessee, Pearce rocketed up team draft boards after compiling 17.5 sacks in his final two seasons.
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