Bengals' Adam Jones charged after allegedly poking man in eye

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Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones faces several charges after he was arrested early Tuesday morning for allegedly pushing a security guard and poking him in the eye and then refusing to comply with law enforcement officers, according to Hamilton County Jail records.

Jones, 33, was arrested at a hotel near the Bengals' stadium and the city's entertainment district in downtown Cincinnati and booked in the jail at approximately 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. He faces misdemeanor charges of assault, disorderly conduct and obstructing official business, and a felony count of harassment with a bodily substance.

At his court hearing, where his bond was set at $37,500, public defender Lauren Staley "vehemently" denied all charges and said that he has witnesses to counter the allegations. Staleysaid Jones will hire an attorney, and the Hamilton County sheriff's office said Jones will remain jailed until a blood test can be performed Wednesday.

When arrested, Jones refused to enter the police car and allegedly pulled away before kicking and head-butting an officer, jail documents said. He then spit on the hand of a nurse while he was being booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center.

Sheriff Jim Neil said Jones was "disorderly and combative" throughout his booking.

The judge ordered Jones to submit to a blood test, and the sheriff's office said that would be done Wednesday morning.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the arrest is being reviewed under the league's personal conduct policy. The Bengals on Tuesday said they're aware of the situation and are working to gather information, but are following team policy not to comment on unresolved legal matters.

Jones, who played for the Bengals in Sunday's season-ending home victory over Baltimore, was voted a captain by teammates this season for the first time in his career. He has repeatedly had legal issues since making his NFL debut with Tennessee after playing in college for West Virginia.

The Atlanta native was acquitted in 2013 on an assault charge in Hamilton County after a woman accused him of punching her in a nightclub. Earlier that year, he paid a fine for disorderly conduct after police accused him of making offensive comments at a traffic stop. He also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in January 2012 after an arrest at a Cincinnati bar.

In 2012, Jones was ordered to pay $11 million to two Las Vegas strip club employees injured in 2007 when a gunman claiming he was doing Jones' bidding opened fire outside the club after Jones and his entourage were kicked out. A club manager was paralyzed from the waist down, and a bouncer was wounded. Jones said he had no role in the shootings and pleaded an equivalent of no contest to a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct.

The Titans made Jones the sixth overall pick in the 2005 draft, and he started 28 games in his first two seasons. But arrests and suspensions nearly scuttled his career before the Bengals signed him in 2010 and he became a regular starting defensive back and punt returner.

He has two years remaining on a three-year, $22 million contract extension he signed with the Bengals in 2016. Although Jones' base salary was guaranteed in 2016, he has no such guarantees on the final two seasons of his contract, and the team would save $6.3 million against the salary cap if they part ways with him in the offseason.

ESPN's Katherine Terrell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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