UPDATE: BloodyElbow.com Exclusive: No Indication of Drugs, Alcohol in Rampage Jackson Arrest; Police Press Release Included

by Luke Thomas on Jul 15, 2008 8:17 PM EDT in News Comment 34 comments

According to Lt. Paul Dondero of the Costa Mesa Police Department, there were no indications of drug or alcohol use by Rampage Jackson at the time of his arrest. Despite the wild nature of his destructive actions, the Costa Mesa police do not believe intoxication by any narcotic or alcohol was a contributing factor.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Download the official police press release here:

A Motor Officer was monitoring traffic at the intersection of Newport Blvd and Broadway. He saw Jackson driving sound bound weaving in and out of traffic, with a flat front left tire speaking on his cell phone. The Motor Officer activated his lights and siren and initiated a traffic stop. Jackson ignored the Motor Officer and continued south bound on 17^th weaving in and out of traffic to avoid being stopped.

Jackson drove over the raised center portion of the roadway at Cabrillo Ave. He lost control and drove up onto the sidewalk causing pedestrians to flee for their lives. Jackson regained control and continued southbound in the northbound lanes of Newport Blvd. As he crossed through the intersection with 17^th St, he collided with a vehicle legally in the intersection. Jackson continued south bound on Newport Blvd running several red lights. The rubber from his left tire began to disintegrate at the PCH overpass. Jackson continued southbound onto the Balboa Peninsula running several more red lights, causing pedestrians to flee in terror. Jackson’s vehicle finally came to a stop at 18^th St and Newport Blvd in the city of Newport Beach. Jackson was taken into custody by Costa Mesa Officers without incident.

Jackson was transported to the Costa Mesa City Jail and booked for; Felony Evading, Reckless Driving and Hit and Run. He was transported to the Orange County Jail and is being held in lieu of a $25,000.00 bail.

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Mugshot anyone?

by nitro on Jul 15, 2008 8:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That’s worse that I imagined.

by Cannon Jacques on Jul 15, 2008 8:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was actually hoping he was on something to excuse the reckless behavior.

by steak_knife on Jul 15, 2008 8:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

anybody think the UFC will drop him because of this?

by asmiley420 on Jul 15, 2008 8:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

They must be pretty glad that he’s not champion right now.

by idefinecagefighter on Jul 15, 2008 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I didn’t think so when I first heard the news. But now hearing that people were ‘fleeing for their lives’, and that he’ll be charged on multiple felonies, they might not have a choice.

Dana White is faced with a serious dillema and potential backlash if he doesn’t drop him.

by steak_knife on Jul 15, 2008 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the amount of mainsteam attention this recieves will dictate what the UFC does.

by Brad Ackerson on Jul 15, 2008 10:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

A Disgrace

Wow…. I mean I am not surprised but damn… what a weird turn of events. The UFC should really get rid of him. He could easily have killed some people. I just can’t imagine anyone but Rampage doing something as stupid as this.

by MrNiceGuyMMA on Jul 15, 2008 9:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If this is true, I hope he doesn’t get off too easy. The fact that he drove on the sidewalk and caused pedestrians to “flee for their lives” is inexcusable.

Imagine if your grandma was walking down that sidewalk.

by lucas_x on Jul 15, 2008 9:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yahoo sports

has a writeup saying dana white is flying to orange county to bail him..http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AqDj3vfKXqXRS7e3g4B1XfQ9Eo14?slug=ki-071508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

by asmiley420 on Jul 15, 2008 9:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What the fuck was he thinking? This isn’t Grand Theft Auto :/

by Gong on Jul 15, 2008 9:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am glad

I am actually glad he had no substances in his system. I have a sneaky feeling there are details about this we are missing. This is too crazy even for rampage. Media can blow things out of proportion. I am holding judgment for a few more days.

by Nick Travaglini on Jul 15, 2008 9:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sucks for him bigtime if he gets charged with 2 felonies. Hope he doesn’t have prior-related charges. This could be a strike…or two…

by IHateMMA on Jul 15, 2008 10:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Opposed from the views that some people have about this situation, I for one am very surprised. There are definitely some athletes on the UFC roster that I could believe would do something like this, but Rampage was never one of them. I always felt he just possessed a ‘larger than life’ persona but was fairly mild-mannered away from the media. He had always seemed like a pretty smart guy to me who never wanted to do anything to put his career at risk. Think back to the post-fight press conference after he lost to Forrest. He basically said that he was disappointed but that he was glad to be fighting in the best organization in the world. To me this is definitely not the type of man that I figured would be so reckless. It looks like I was wrong so kudos to those of you who claim to have ‘seen this coming.’

by scottish_rage on Jul 15, 2008 10:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I wish these people who saw this coming would explain how. All I have seen of Rampage was an easy going guy with his head screwed in the right direction.

I really hope there is information that we haven’t heard yet, because it’s a real shame otherwise.

by mythbuster on Jul 16, 2008 12:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I am glad that he wasn’t drunk or high but at the same time it would be a hell of alot easier to explain.

Rampage has been my favourite fighter for years so needless to say I am completely shocked and depressed by this. I am going to wait to hear Jackson’s side of the story before I judge him but I can’t imagine what excuse he could possibly have to explain this.

by Brad Ackerson on Jul 15, 2008 10:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

damn! what an idiot, this could eliminate the possibility of an immediate rematch for the title.

by mr Sapo on Jul 15, 2008 10:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

something new for us to talk about on the blogs and radio shows woot!

by Benicio on Jul 15, 2008 10:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He was running from a psycho ex-cop:

by smoogy on Jul 15, 2008 10:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I lol’d… seriously

by pr0cs on Jul 15, 2008 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Funny as hell

by pud333 on Jul 16, 2008 12:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Luckily, noone was hurt

But let’s not forget the real victim in today’s events: TOYO TIRES

by steak_knife on Jul 16, 2008 12:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually

They are reaping the benefits…Off-road promos, anti-pedestrian tested, And seeing those tires made me want to get some. lol

by IHateMMA on Jul 16, 2008 2:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

now that's funny

always great to find a little wit in a blog instead of people just bitching. You should patent that add campaign immediately.

by modcitzn on Jul 17, 2008 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The smartest thing I’ve read is to reserve judgment for a few days to get all the information.
Thankfully it doesn’t seem like he was drunk/high or else there would be "mma = drug culture" stories all over mainstream media.

by lunedi18 on Jul 15, 2008 11:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

mma drug culture

with the help of the “tapout” guys and fighters like Guillard I’m sure someone will be trying to beat down MMA here soon enough. I wish i could get busted for doing blow while fighting and then turn around and make 80 k off a 10 second fight (that’s a time estimate)....
speaking of mainstream media, the video of dana in the interview telling him how MMA is safer than boxing is awesome. one of my faves.

by modcitzn on Jul 17, 2008 1:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hope for Rampage’s sake that he was actually injured in his last fight with Forrest more than he was letting on and this is the result of prescription drug side effects. I mean they’ve said narcotics and alcohol weren’t a factor..but you have to think the guy was on something. Two car accidents and fleeing from the police while driving on the sidewalk with pedestrians running from you? What the hell Rampage? Beyond that – your fleeing an accident and the police while driving the freaking Rampagemobile? Your picture, your name and your sponsor are on the truck! Its not like your going to get away and blend into traffic…

If they’ve ruled out narcotics and alcohol, this has to be one of two things – prescription drugs or Rampage lost his mind after losing to Forrest as this is bloody crazed.

by ChrisBat on Jul 16, 2008 12:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

WTF was he thinking?

Or not thinking, as the case may be. Unfortunate, to say the least.

by pud333 on Jul 16, 2008 12:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I know its far fetched, but is it possible that the breaks on the truck went out? I know its far-fetched, but is it any more far-fetched than the other explainations?

If his breaks went out it would explain why he didn’t stop and why he was swerving through traffic. Who knows, this is just too weird.

If its not something like that Rampage will for sure be fighting for Affliction in six months.

by Day Man on Jul 16, 2008 1:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This actually isn’t too far-fetched, but I expect it isn’t the case.

by Mike Fagan on Jul 16, 2008 2:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yea, sorry about all the “far-fetched”s in there, I had been without internet all day and was kinda in shock when I read all of this.

by Day Man on Jul 16, 2008 2:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the first thing i thought of was antidepressants or other similar mood controlling pharmaceuticals.

by Benicio on Jul 16, 2008 3:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Rampage's... rampage

I agree with a few of you – smartest thing is to hold on until the facts come out. This is just too weird to write off to the usual alcohol, drugs, Jesse Taylor pee pants-type behavior.

I also agree that whatever Dana does will depend on the amount of press this generates. If it threatens to give the UFC a black eye, Rampage is out. If it can be smoothed over, or quickly forgotten, he’s proven to be an earner for the promotion and will be kept. There’s been other popular guys with legal troubles (hello, Chris Leben) that have made it through their problems and kept their job.

by mmac on Jul 16, 2008 9:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I still love him...

He’ll be back. Maybe a phat suspension but guillard got busted for being on blow during a fight and he just pulled 80 k off his last fight. Dana is a forgiving guy and i’m sure rampage will come out with some funny as hell press release for it.
I mean, if they can let gabe rudiger fight at all, they have to give jackson another chance!

p.s. Can anyone explain to me why anyone still thinks that Anderson Silva is not a man beast. I need some input here cause i’ve got nothin but love for the guy and people still talk shit about him. and be sure to leave out any comments about his nuts being sore cause i’m swingin from them so hard…

Mod

by modcitzn on Jul 17, 2008 12:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs