re Vinnie Jones - Fights & Gets Arrested

[QPR Report]

As first posted by DelroyQPR on the Indys site


Vinnie Jones Photo splashnewsonline.celebuzz.com/2008/12/vinnie-jones-arrested.html


Tough-guy movie actor beat up in Sioux Falls bar
Josh Verges • [e-mail] • December 6, 2008

Hollywood actor Vinnie Jones was treated for injuries and arrested after a Thursday night bar fight at Wiley's Tavern in downtown Sioux Falls.

Jones, 43, is a British former soccer player whose movie credits include "Snatch," "Gone in Sixty Seconds" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." He also did voice-over work in "Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties."

But the Sioux Falls man Jones allegedly punched said it was his role as Juggernaut in "X-Men: The Last Stand," that sparked the fight.

Juan Barrera, 24, said his roommates were playing pool when Jones approached and asked to play. He said Jesse Bickett, 24, of Montrose told Jones he'd have to wait.

That's when one of Barrera's roommates asked Jones whether he was "that guy from X-Men."

"He got offended by that, and he started pushing my other friends around. He said he's been in so many other movies or whatever," Barrera said.

Barrera went to the restroom, so he didn't see what happened next.

Police: 'He got the worst end of that deal'
Sioux Falls Police Sgt. Tim Hagen said people were pushing and shoving when Jones charged at Bickett, who hit the actor in the face with a beer glass.

"He got the worst end of that deal," Hagen said, examining a police photograph of Jones' face.

Jones was known for his violence on the soccer field.

Police were called to the bar at 11:35 p.m. Thursday. They found Bickett outside the bar with cuts on his hand and arrested him for aggravated assault.

Jones, Montrose man both treated for injuries
They later found Jones at Sanford USD Medical Center where he was treated for cuts to the face. He was charged with simple assault and posted bond Friday morning.

Police do not identify victims, but Barrera said he was the man Jones punched. He said he was exiting the restroom when he found Jones and Wiley's staff members coming the opposite direction.

"His whole face was covered in blood," Barrera said.

"I just walked out the restroom, didn't say a word to him ... and he struck me in the mouth."

Barrera said he countered with one or two punches to Jones' face, then knocked him to the floor before Wiley's staff escorted Barrera outside.

Barrera said Minnehaha County Jail staff called him Friday morning to warn that Jones was free on bail.

Jones' manager, Alex Cole, had more questions than answers. He said Jones hasn't answered his phone calls, and his wife is worried about him.

Cole said Jones is on vacation, but he didn't know specifically what the actor was doing in Sioux Falls.

Mom: '(Jones) doesn't want to run into me'
Barrera said someone who was with Jones at the bar said he was in Sioux Falls to hunt.

Jones' wife and manager aren't the only people who want to speak with the actor: Deb Bickett said Friday afternoon that her son just got out of surgery.

"He's got major hospital bills hanging over his head," she said. "He (Jones) doesn't want to run into me."

Bickett said her son told her, "It was definitely self-defense, Mom."

Neither man made a court appearance Friday, and no formal charges have been filed. The state's attorney's office said it has not yet received a report from police.

www.argusleader.com/article/20081206/NEWS/812060304

[QPR Report]

AP/International Herald Tribune
Brit actor Vinnie Jones arrested in US bar fight

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota: Hollywood tough guy actor and former British soccer player Vinnie Jones was arrested after a bar fight in downtown Sioux Falls, authorities said.

His movie credits include "Snatch," "Gone in Sixty Seconds" and as the character Juggernaut in "X-Men: The Last Stand."

Police said Jones got into a scuffle late Thursday at Wiley's Tavern and suffered cuts on his face from a beer glass.

A police sergeant said Jones apparently charged at Jesse Bickett of Montrose, South Dakota, who hit Jones with the glass.

Bickett was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault.

One of Bickett's roommates, Juan Barrera, said they were playing pool when Jones asked to play, then got offended when one of them asked if he was "that guy from X-Men." Barrera said he was punched by Jones, and countered with one or two of his own.

"He got offended by that, and he started pushing my other friends around. He said he's been in so many other movies or whatever," Barrera said.

Authorities said Jones was treated at a hospital, then was charged with simple assault and posted bail Friday morning.

Jones' manager, Alex Cole, said Jones was on vacation, but he didn't know what the actor was doing in Sioux Falls. Barrera said one of the people with Jones said the actor was in South Dakota to hunt.

Bickett's mother, Deb Bickett, said her son had to have surgery for his injuries and incurred hospital bills.

Jones, 43, earned a reputation in soccer as one of the English Premier League's hard men for his rough play. He also played internationally for Wales.

He made his first film appearance in director Guy Ritchie's 1998 comedy-thriller "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."

www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/06/arts/NA-US-British-Actor-Arrested.php

[QPR Report]

Daily Mail/Caroline Graham - Hardman Vinnie Jones's nose is 'cut to the bone' in bar brawl over tough guy taunts

Former football hardman Vinnie Jones had his nose ‘cut down to the bone’ in a vicious bar-room brawl that erupted after he was taunted about being a tough guy.

Jones, 43, who has starred in films such as Snatch, Gone In 60 Seconds and Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, was smashed in the face with a beer glass during the fight late on Thursday night at Wiley’s Tavern in remote Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
He was arrested and charged with simple assault.
Vinnie Jones on the dance floor at Wiley's Taven 20 minutes before the brawl

The other man in the fracas, Jesse Bickett, 24, faces the far more serious charge of aggravated assault.

Locals claim the ex-Wimbledon and Leeds United player was goaded about his role as Juggernaut in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Jones, who splits his time between a £3.4million mansion in Hertfordshire and a £2.5million home in Los Angeles, has been advised by his lawyers not to discuss the incident as they expect him to be hit with a multi-million-pound lawsuit.

He had arrived in Sioux Falls less than 24 hours earlier to shoot pheasant with three friends from Los Angeles.
His manager, Alex Cole, said: ‘Vinnie is fine. He was the victim. He went to the bar to relax with his mates and some locals started goading him about X-Men.
‘There was an altercation and Vinnie ended up being smashed in the face with a beer glass.’
Jones in typical hardman pose in the film The Condemned
According to witnesses, the fight broke out shortly after 11.30pm on Thursday.
One witness, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It started with pushing and shoving and that’s when the guy shoved the glass in Vinnie’s face. The glass shattered. Vinnie had blood all over him. His nose was cut down to the bone.’
Bickett was arrested outside the bar bleeding profusely from severe cuts to his hand.

He underwent surgery on his wounds. His mother, Deb Bickett, said her son had told her: ‘It was definitely self-defence, Mom.’
A Sioux Falls resident, who refused to be named, claimed the local men involved in the incident would file a lawsuit against Jones, adding: ‘This will cost him millions.’
Bar owner Todd Vansickler has reviewed CCTV footage of the fight – and claims Jones was innocent.

He said: ‘Mr Jones and his party were not the troublemakers here, it was the other group. They have been here before causing problems. Mr Jones is welcome back any time.’
Jones was taken by friends to a nearby medical centre for stitches to his injuries.
Police arrested him at 11am on Friday as he left the centre but immediately released him on £275 bail.
A court date has not been set for the hearing into his assault charge.

Under South Dakota law Jones can be represented by a lawyer rather than appear in person and faces a fine.
The assault charge faced by Bickett carries a far stiffer fine and possible jail sentence

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1092575/Hardman-Vinnie-Joness-nose-cut-bone-bar-brawl-tough-guy-taunts.html

[floridaranger]

Basically the police would have arrested both of them, obviously Jones the one with the damage, wonder if the charge would affect Jones US Visa !



Also the US citizen may sue for damages...


Argus comments



The "victim" from Montrose will get some cash to upgrade his double wide and his momma will get to fix her false teeth, and buy a 12 pack of PBR.

[QPR Report]

I once (18 months ago) received an email from someone purporting to be Vinnie Jones responding to something I'd posted on my blog about him.

It was a lenthy email (poor spelling/no capitalization) expounding at length on events at QPR when he (if it was in fact Jones) was there at the time of the Dowie appointment instead of him.

I'm not going to post the email, both because I don't know for sure whether it was from Jones; and because it made a number of assertions and allegations. But it began "after reading your article i thought finally i must see if someone who loves qpr so much would be interested in my (vinnie jones) side of what happened when i was at the club ,so here is my side which has never been told..."

It offered sufficient details to make it seem to me very possible that it actually was from him - even though obviously, the very idea of him emailing me, seemed somewhat unlikely (but definitely not out of the question - Rodney Marsh after all has posted saying he has read my blog). Either that, or it was a very elaborate hoax. But it certainly wasn't something some prankster just sent off.

I wanted verification that it was actually from Jones. He said email him my phone number and he'd call me. I never followed up.

[floridaranger]

Interesting Mike, would love to see that mail.

To be honest I think he's a bit of a drunk, saw him on a fishing show from Montana this summer, he never caught a thing & spent half the show throwing up over the boat after spending the night out with a bunch of friends.

Personally I have met him twice.

[QPR Report]

And Jones, post-fight photo www.tmz.com/2008/12/07/vinnie-jones-busted-ass-mug

[QPR Report]

Daily Mail - December 9, 2008

'Someone tried to blind me... It was like a car crash': Vinnie Jones relives bar-room brawl that left him with 48 stitches
By David Gardner

Vinnie Jones has spoken out following his arrest in the America for punching a man in the face during a bar bawl.

The football hardman-turned-actor defended his actions, claiming that his attacker had tried to blind him. 'Would you not be p***** off if someone tried to blind you for life?' he said.

Jones, who could face up to a year in jail, claimed he was smashed in the face by a beer glass during a game of pool as he and a crowd of friends stopped for beers at a pool hall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The former defender - a member of Wimbledon's FA Cup winning Crazy Gang - was en route to a pheasant shoot.

He explained to The Sun: 'We were having a laugh with a group of lads whose girlfriends I was doing pictures for. They started having a joke about my films. The next thing I knew I was on the ground with a glass in my face.'
'The blood was pouring out. The attack came from nowhere, I was stunned by it.'
'It was like a car crash, it all happened so quickly.'

The star of Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and X-Men revealed that he needed 48 stitches to his wounds.


However, a police spokesman said Jones apparently charged at a customer named as 24-year-old Jesse Bickett, at Wiley’s Tavern after a dispute over a game of pool and the man hit him with a glass.
‘It was a verbal argument that escalated to pushing and shoving and then a bar brawl,’ he added.
Juan Barrera - a friend of Bickett - said Jones was offended after someone called him ‘that guy from X-Men’ after he asked to join their pool game.


Barrera said: 'I just walked out of the restroom, didn't say a word to him and he struck me in the mouth.
‘He got offended by that, and he started pushing my other friends around. He said he's been in so many other movies or whatever,’ said Barrera.
Sioux Falls Police Sergeant Tim Hagen said people were pushing and shoving when Jones charged at Bickett, who hit the actor in the face with a beer glass.

'He got the worst end of that deal,' Hagen said, examining a police photograph of Jones' face.

Police were called to the bar at 11.35pm on Thursday. They found Bickett outside the bar with cuts on his hand and arrested him for aggravated assault.

They later found Jones at Sanford USD Medical Centre where he was treated for cuts to the face.
Vinnie and Tanya Jones renew their wedding vows at the 'Little white Chapel' in Las Vegas
He was charged with simple assault and posted bail Friday morning.

Police do not identify victims, but Barrera said he was the man Jones punched.

Bickett was also last night in police custody.
During his career as a footballer that also took him to Chelsea, Leeds, Sheffield United and QPR, Jones became infamous for his 'hard man' image.

Jones was sent off 12 times in his career and holds the record for the quickest red card, having been booked after only three seconds of play.

In one notorious incident he distracted Paul Gascoigne by grabbing his testicles.
During another match, he ended the career of Tottenham defender Gary Stevens with a vicious tackle.
He has had several brushes with the law: he was convicted of assaulting a neighbour in 1998.

In December 2003, Jones was convicted of air rage offences committed on a flight the previous May.

Following his conviction, Bacardi withdrew the TV adverts in which Jones appeared


www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1092575/Someone-tried-blind--It-like-car-crash-Vinnie-Jones-relives-bar-room-brawl-left-48-stitches.html

[QPR Report]

From the News of The World!

"Vinnie was asking for it - Man who glassed actor Jones in a bar tells what REALLY happened " (Including video)
www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/99211/Jesse-Bickett-who-glassed-Vinnie-Jones-in-a-vicious-bar-room-breaks-his-silence.html