UFC
More details emerge regarding Jeremy Stephens arrest, alleged assault
Oct 12, 2012 - 3:50:30 PM More details emerge regarding Jeremy Stephens arrest, alleged assault

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Police reports obtained in a report from the Des Moines Register have given more information regarding the alleged assault that UFC lightweight Jeremy Stephens has been charged with. The 26-year-old was picked up in Minneapolis last Friday on an outstanding warrant, taking him out of a fight on the UFC on FX 5 card against Yves Edwards. He was extradited to Iowa on Thursday.

According to the report, Stephens and another individual, Dustin James Bachman, followed the victim and his wife outside of a bar called Fat Tony's. The victims wife claimed that Stephens hit him in the left eye, and then Bachman punched him on the head and face several times.

The victim's wife attempted to get him to their car when Bachman then pulled the victim out by his feet, at which time he and Stephens allegedly continued kicking and punching the downed victim. They then fled the scene. Per the report, the victim "was unconscious and stopped breathing twice, police reports show. He was intubated and taken to the hospital in critical condition."

The report also featured comments from the Des Moines police department, refuting contentions from Stephens' camp and the UFC. Stephens' camp claims the fighter was not informed of the warrant against him, and UFC President Dana White believed last week that the Friday arrest was calculated to make him miss the fight. Des Moines police Sgt. Joe Leo said neither situation was accurate.

"It wasn’t personal. We gave him several opportunities to turn himself in," Leo said. "He's had a year to take care of it... That's absolutely not true [that we purposefully waited to arrest him]. It's the only opportunity we knew about where we could make the arrest."

Penick's Analysis: These are pretty heinous allegations, and though Stephens claims his innocence, this isn't just a situation of his name "coming up" during the investigation. This is the victim's wife identifying him in the police report. Of course, there's an entire process that needs to happen, and he'll have his day in court to plead his case and maintain his innocence. However, the details of this particular assault make it look worse that the UFC fought as hard as they did to get him out for the event las week.