{"id":738086,"date":"2026-02-08T13:46:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T13:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/738086\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T13:46:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T13:46:26","slug":"atlanta-falcons-james-pearce-jr-arrested-after-alleged-domestic-dispute-with-wnba-star-rickea-jackson-led-to-cop-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/738086\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta Falcons&#8217; James Pearce Jr. arrested after alleged domestic dispute with WNBA star Rickea Jackson led to cop chase"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/newspress-collage-yddtsjgpk-1770554086062.jpg\" alt=\"An image collage containing 3 images, Image 1 shows Seattle Seahawks v Atlanta Falcons - NFL 2025, Image 2 shows NINTCHDBPICT000989855295, Image 3 shows NINTCHDBPICT001057397380\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15907805\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>NFL star James Pearce Jr. has been arrested and charged with battery after an alleged domestic dispute with WNBA player Rickea Jackson.<\/p>\n<p>The Atlanta Falcon rookie linebacker was cuffed by cops on Saturday in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/florida\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida<\/a> following a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/police\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">police<\/a> chase that ended with Pearce Jr. crashing his vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the Sport newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>James Pearce Jr. was arrested in Miami Dade County on SaturdayCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>The NFL star linebacker has been charged with aggravated battery and stalking as well as evading policeCredit: WPLG<\/p>\n<p>He has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count aggravated stalking as well as fleeing police, aggravated battery of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/law\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">law<\/a> enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence to his person. <\/p>\n<p>Pearce Jr., 22, and Jackson, a forward for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/los-angeles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles<\/a> Sparks, briefly dated last summer but the 24-year-old confirmed their split in September 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The linebacker was booked in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center around 7pm on Sunday after Doral police were called about an alleged domestic incident between a man and a woman.<\/p>\n<p>The football player fled from officers and ended up crashing his car where he was then arrested, Police Chief Edwin Lopez told <a aria-label=\"WPLG TV. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/local\/2026\/02\/07\/falcons-lb-james-pierce-jr-arrested-after-police-chase-crash-in-doral-cops-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">WPLG TV.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"article-readmore__text-anchor-wrap\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/15895819\/new-england-patriots-scandal-players-arrested-super-bowl\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"240\" width=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/newspress-collage-mu7j2olvj-1770392527655.jpg\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-kicker\">FOUL PLAY<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-headline\">Inside Patriots&#8217; scandal-plagued season as 2 players arrested before Super Bowl<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"article-readmore__text-anchor-wrap\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/sport\/15798559\/why-nfl-choose-love-end-zones-helmets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"240\" width=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/words-choose-love-displayed-end-1052132767_719c8f.jpg\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-kicker\">LOVE IS IN THE AIR<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-readmore__text-headline\">Why are the NFL are displaying &#8216;Choose Love&#8217; in the end zones?<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are aware of an incident involving James Pearce Jr. in Miami. We are in the process of gathering more information and will not have any further comment on an open legal matter at this time,\u201d the Falcons said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>No bond was set for Pearce Jr. at the time of his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>He was selected with the 26th pick in the 2025 draft and came third in AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year with 10.5 sacks in this latest season, per <a aria-label=\"ESPN. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/47863327\/falcons-james-pearce-arrested-florida-battery-charges\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">ESPN.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Jackson was drafted by the Sparks with No. 4 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft with an average of 14.7 points in 38 games this season.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMost read in American Football\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>No comment has been issued by the basketball player or her representatives following Pearce Jr\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n<p>The alleged domestic dispute involved Rickea Jackson (right) who is a star forward for the LA SparksCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>Jackson and Pearce Jr. briefly dated last summer before she confirmed their split in September 2025Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rickea\/?hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rickea\/?hl=en<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NFL star James Pearce Jr. has been arrested and charged with battery after an alleged domestic dispute with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,224,7,40439,6,12370],"class_list":{"0":"post-738086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-falcons","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-los-angeles-sparks","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116035328839939533","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}