LAS VEGAS (June 20, 2007) -- Suspended NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones will face two felony charges in a strip club melee that preceded a triple shooting in February, authorities said.
Two other people police identify as part of the troubled Tennessee Titans cornerback's entourage also will face felony charges in the fracas inside the Minxx club, Las Vegas police said in a statement.
Since Jones was drafted by the Titans in April 2005, he has been involved in 11 separate police investigations, including efforts by Atlanta police to question him about a shooting early June 18 after a fight at an Atlanta strip club. He has been arrested five times in a little more than two years. He has not been convicted of any crimes.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello did not say if the Las Vegas charges would affect Jones' suspension for the upcoming NFL season.
"As we have stated, his status will be reviewed after the Titans' 10th regular-season game," Aiello said.
Jones agreed this month not to appeal the suspension, and officials said Jones had a chance to be reinstated after 10 games if he adhered to team restrictions and had no further "adverse involvement with law enforcement." Missing the entire season would cost Jones his entire salary.
No one is named as the shooter in the Las Vegas incident, police Capt. James Dillon said. The gunfire occurred Feb. 19 outside a club several blocks off the Las Vegas Strip near the end of NBA All-Star weekend. A bar employee was paralyzed and two others suffered less serious wounds.
Arrest warrants were issued for Jones, Robert "Big Rob" Reid of Carson, Calif., and Sadia Morrison of New York, an aide to Clark County district attorney David Roger said.
Jones, 23, of Franklin, Tenn., faces two counts of felony coercion stemming from allegations he bit a bar bouncer on the ankle and threatened to kill club employees, according to a criminal complaint filed in Las Vegas Justice Court.
Reid, 37, whom police identify as Jones' bodyguard, faces one felony coercion charge alleging he attacked a bouncer who tried to restrain Jones.
Morrison, 25, faces charges including coercion, felony assault with a deadly weapon and battery stemming from allegations she hit a bouncer in the head with a champagne bottle and attacked several other club employees with a chair and a stanchion.
Coercion is the act of threatening or physically interfering with a person trying to do something that he or she has a right and responsibility to do.
If convicted, Jones faces up to six years in prison and a $5,000 fine on each charge.
The charges are slightly different from those police sought in March against Jones, Reid and Morrison. Roger declined to file those charges, asking police for more information and to identify a shooter.
"The investigation continued and additional evidence was gathered. That's why it's different," Dillon said. "These are complicated acts and charges. We've worked closely with the district attorney."
A Las Vegas lawyer representing the three was expected to contact police to arrange their surrender, the aide to Roger said.
The lawyer, Robert Langford, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Police earlier called Jones "an inciter" of the Feb. 19 fracas that caused employees to usher people out of the club, several blocks off the Las Vegas Strip near the end of NBA All-Star weekend.
The police report says Jones showered dancers on stage with money from a black plastic trash bag -- an act of tipping known as "making it rain." When two dancers began fighting over the money, Jones allegedly grabbed one by the hair and punched her.
Jones is accused of swinging his fists and threatening the life of club employees who police said tried to intervene, and is seen on videotape punching a man whom police identify as his own business manager.
A police report says Jones was seen walking away from the strip club with a man wearing a baggy black T-shirt and blue jeans. Minutes later, police say a similarly dressed man standing next to a palm tree fired five or six shots toward people at the front of the club.
A bouncer whom Jones fought with was wounded in the chest and left forearm. Another bouncer, Thomas Urbanski, was shot in the left hand and the torso, and was left paralyzed from the waist down. A female club patron was wounded in the head, police said.
Langford has called the melee "a glorified bar fight," and said nothing linked Jones with the shooting outside. He said Jones cooperated with police on DNA comparisons that failed to show the NFL star was responsible for a bite injury reported by a bouncer.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2007, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
