The Jones family, known for their extraordinary athletic talents across mixed martial arts and professional football, has unfortunately become equally notorious for their repeated encounters with law enforcement. Jon Jones, the former UFC heavyweight champion, along with his brothers Chandler and Arthur Jones, both NFL players, have accumulated a substantial history of arrests, charges, and legal controversies that span over a decade.
Jon Jones: The Most Troubled Brother
Jon Jones has the most extensive criminal record among the three brothers, with incidents dating back to 2012. His legal troubles began with a DUI arrest in 2012 when he crashed his vehicle into a tree in New York, though he avoided jail time. The pattern of reckless behavior continued to escalate throughout his career.
In December 2014, Jones tested positive for cocaine metabolites in a pre-fight drug test, earning him a $25,000 fine from the UFC and a day-long stint in a rehabilitation facility. However, his most serious legal troubles began in April 2015 when he was involved in a hit-and-run incident that would define his troubled public image. On April 26, 2015, Jones ran a red light in his rental SUV and crashed into a car driven by a pregnant woman, breaking her arm.
After fleeing the scene on foot, witnesses observed Jones returning to his vehicle to grab a large handful of cash before fleeing again. A marijuana pipe with marijuana was found in his abandoned rental car. Jones eventually pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received 18 months of supervised probation along with 72 hours of community service. The UFC immediately stripped him of his light heavyweight title and suspended him indefinitely.
Jon Jones’s legal problems continued into 2019 when he was charged with battery after an incident at a strip club. A cocktail waitress accused Jones of slapping her, putting her in a chokehold, kissing her on the neck, and touching her inappropriately after she asked him to stop. Jones pleaded no contest to the charge and was placed on 90-day probation.
In March 2020, Jones faced another serious arrest for aggravated DWI and negligent use of a firearm. Police found him in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle with the engine running, showing signs of intoxication with a handgun and half-empty bottle of liquor in the car. Jones tested at or above twice the legal limit on a breathalyzer test. He pleaded guilty to the DWI offense and received one year of supervised probation, 90 days of outpatient treatment, community service, and maximum fines.
The domestic violence incident in September 2021 marked perhaps the darkest chapter in Jones’s criminal history. Hours after his 2013 fight against Alexander Gustafsson was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, Jones was arrested for misdemeanor battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle. Police responded to a domestic disturbance call at Caesars Palace where they found Jones’s fiancée, Jessie Moses, bleeding from her nose and mouth.
Moses told officers that Jones was “a little physical” with her, pulling her hair to prevent her from leaving their hotel room with their three children. Officers observed blood on her sweatshirt and dried blood on her swollen lip. When Jones was being detained, he became irate and smashed his head into the front hood of the patrol vehicle, leaving a medium-sized dent and chipping paint, which elevated the charge to a felony.
Most recently, in June 2025, Jones faced new charges for allegedly leaving the scene of a car crash. On February 24, 2025, police responded to a single-vehicle accident where they found a highly intoxicated, partially undressed woman in the passenger seat who claimed Jones was the driver and had fled the scene.
The woman told police she had consumed alcohol and mushrooms at Jones’s house before the crash. During a phone conversation with police, a man believed to be Jones allegedly made threatening statements, including “My brothers, they kill people for way less,” prompting the officer to call for backup. Jones was charged with a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident and is scheduled for arraignment on July 24, 2025.
Chandler Jones: The Youngest Brother’s Troubles
Chandler Jones, the youngest of the three brothers and a four-time Pro Bowl NFL defensive end, has had his own significant legal issues, particularly in 2023. His troubles culminated in two arrests within a month for violating domestic violence protective orders.
On September 29, 2023, Chandler was arrested on two counts of violating a domestic violence temporary protection order. The incident involved the mother of his son, who had obtained a protective order against him after an alleged domestic battery incident on September 12. According to police reports, the woman claimed Jones knocked on her door with a flashlight and no shoes, entered through a keypad-locked back door, and when she tried to stop him from going upstairs, he shoved her into a railing. She reported that Jones was “rambling incoherently” and she believed he was on drugs.
On September 28, Jones violated the protective order by going to the woman’s home and taking items from her backyard, including a recycling bin, pool net, and dog toys. He then sent her Snapchat messages showing himself nude in his backyard burning the stolen items. When police found Jones in the woman’s driveway later that night, he told officers “to just take him out of the car,” apparently acknowledging he knew he was violating the protection order.
Less than three weeks later, on October 17, 2023, Chandler was arrested again for violating the same protective order, though details of this second violation were not immediately available. The Las Vegas Raiders released Jones following his first arrest in September.
Arthur Jones: The “Clean” Brother with a Suspension
Arthur Jones, the eldest of the three brothers and a former NFL defensive lineman who won Super Bowl championships with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013 and Indianapolis Colts, has the least serious record of legal troubles among the three brothers. Unlike his brothers, Arthur has not faced criminal arrests, but he did encounter significant professional discipline.
In July 2016, Arthur was suspended for the first four games of the NFL season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. The suspension came just two weeks after his brother Jon was pulled from UFC 200 for a potential doping violation, highlighting the family’s struggles with substance-related issues. Arthur was forced to forfeit $588,235 in salary during his four-game suspension. The timing of Arthur’s PED violation, so close to Jon’s failed drug test, raised eyebrows about potential substance abuse issues running in the family.
Arthur’s suspension was particularly notable given his injury-plagued career with the Indianapolis Colts. After signing a five-year, $33 million contract in 2014, he played only nine games that season due to various injuries and missed the entire 2015 season with an ankle injury.
