In the latest update to the legal situation surrounding Falcons rookie outside linebacker James Pearce Jr., ESPN’s Marc Raimondi and Michael Rothstein note that Pearce’s five pending felony arrest charges will be reduced to three. Pearce has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, fleeing and eluding police, and resisting an officer with violence to his or her person, while the arrest charge of felony aggravated stalking was reduced to a misdemeanor. 
The fifth original arrest charge of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer was dropped from his slate. According to Andy Slater of Fox Sports South Florida, the charge was dropped because prosecutors determined “there wasn’t enough evidence” on police body cam footage to charge Pearce with a felony that could carry a prison sentence of five years.
An arrest was made in February after an incident in which Pearce crashed his car while fleeing police. The episode stemmed from an alleged domestic dispute between Pearce and WNBA player Rickea Jackson. An NFL investigation was opened shortly thereafter, and it remains ongoing at this time.
As Raimondi and Rothstein detailed earlier this month, Pearce was the subject of at least seven 9-1-1- calls regarding Jackson and allegations of domestic disturbances prior to the incident which resulted in his arrest. Police records indicate numerous instances when Jackson reported feeling unsafe with respect to stalking and harassment on the part of Pearce in the months leading up to his arrest. A petition for a protective order was filed shortly after Pearce’s arrest, per the ESPN’s pair.
According to the court filing, Pearce “verbally and physically abused” Jackson on multiple occasions. It also states Pearce “threatened to kill, harm and injure” Jackson and “place a bag over her head.” The initial protection request was granted. A permanent injunction hearing is scheduled for April 21.
“Those are concerning, to say the least,” new Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said of the allegations (via Raimondi) during his latest remarks on the Pearce situation. ” Outside of that, I’ll keep it similar to what we said at the Combine. We’re not going to comment on an ongoing investigation.”
After selecting Jalon Walker in the first round of the 2025 draft, the Falcons traded back into the Day 1 order to select Pearce. The 22-year-old was a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist with 10.5 sacks as part of a substantial turnaround in terms of pass rush production for Atlanta. Pearce’s rookie contract runs through 2028.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
Luckily for him he had a good season so it will get reduced to jaywalking and a fine.
“And how does the defendant plead, considering all the evidence?”
“Well, Your Honor, he’s a pretty good football player…”
“Good enough. All charges are dropped.”
It’s literally exactly like Tyreek Hill and Frank Clark or Joe Mixon.
In the words of Hank Hill “You don’t understand. He’s a good guy. He runs fast!”
Maybe. It’s also possible the Falcons release him with cause and void the rest his rookie contract. If he was a 5th rounder he’d be gone already.
Yea, I don’t think this one gets swept under the rug. Especially if she stays the course with 7 prior calls to 911 he’s not getting a slap on the wrist.
I’m amazed he even made it into the back of a police car. If it had just been some random Black guy from Atlanta he would have probably ended up at the morgue. Georgia has come a long way.
Such nonsense
A) Do you have literally any recent proof of that?
B) This happened in Florida, you genius.
Florida, Georgia is there really a difference?
Florida, Georgia is there really a difference?
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Just say ‘whoops, I made a mistake’ and move on.
Did I though? Really?
Yes, you did. Just stop talking.
And the best part is you did it while trying and failing to make some kind of political point.
You saw a political point there? That explains a lot. It was more of a trigger happy police point I thought I was making. In fact you really don’t have to do much of anything to get shot today. Police or not. We need more guns. You’re a conspiracy nut aren’t you? Still wear a mask do you? Bet you do.
Did I though? Really?
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Yes, you did. Using the old “they all look alike to me” is not a good excuse.
Yea, It’s amazing how many minor traffic stops turn into an officer involved shooting. Kind of makes you wonder, eh?
And how many would that be? Doesn’t seem to be a lot.
Thanks to folks like you, our future looks bright. I have always wondered why you all don’t just take in people like this into your homes instead of demanding we all foot the bill and let them spread their behavior all over. Enrich your personal experience with them instead of demanding we all share in it.
Black guy from Atlanta
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Not to go too far off the trail, but five black cops beat a black man to death in Memphis. People showed up to protest, found out the cops were black, and decided it no longer mattered.
It feels like we’re losing focus.
The funny thing is people still talk about that without mentioning that the cops involved were black.
The funny part is that people don’t talk about. The dude that was killed in MN is famous. A lot of people know the name of the cop.
Five cops in Memphis murdered someone returning from work. He was crying for his mom. Beaten to death in the street.
But no one gives a $chitt because the cops were black.
Fontenot should be fired again.
Ryan Pace was fired the same night as this incident though
6-8 game suspension is all it will be
The Atlanta prison could use another sports celebrity now that Denny McLain and Willie Aikens are no longer on the roster 🙂
He would be going to prison in Florida. Does nobody actually read the story?
Uh…you are aware that inmates can be transferred from one prison to another right?
Stalking is the most dangerous situation for the victim, yet they reduce it to a misdemeanor? That is what lead up to all of this! Gotta love our justice system!
It’s sad how two of the three felonies have to do with how he reacted the police, NOT the reason why police were called.
He will probably plea deal it all down to one charge and the aggravated assault charge will mysteriously become a misdemeanor.
When you arrest people, you charge them with everything you can find. I’m not sure why anyone would object to that.
Throw the book at him, but it’s sad that our society only is able to react to the cursory responses and not the cause of the problem.
What was the cause of the problem?
“I’m not sure why anyone would object to that.”
You’re not sure why people would object to cops just throwing a bunch of bogus charges onto something to scare someone into a plea deal?
That I understand. But how do you know the charges are bogus?
What a waste smh dude threw a great opportunity in the trash. Disgusting behavior
It’s disgusting behavior despite whether he threw a great opportunity away or not. He needs help.
Agree….and the good ol NFL will do nothing about his behavior if he gets no jail time…it will be business as usual….
The “help” he needs is prison time.
He can get therapy there, not in the free world where he can potentially harm other people.
No sh-t buddy
He should never play in the NFL again. He needs to be banned for life.
I mean Rashee rice almost ended someone’s life and collected like 6 felonies, and he only got 6 games
He should also be in jail.
There’s no way the Falcons DON’T release him after the conclusion of the case. They’re simply waiting this out, as they’re being counseled to.
He going to get like six games. No way the Falcons release him.
why are people asking ian cunningham for his thoughts on this?
the nfl insisted that matt ryan is the football executive and ian is just an assistant.