Pacman Jones has been charged with assault for punching a woman at a bar in Cincinnati last week, but the Bengals cornerback is claiming that he acted in self-defense.
ESPN 1530 in Cincinnati obtained security footage of the incident, which allows us to review what happened.
It’s hard to tell exactly what was going on, but it looks like Pacman was walking along the sidewalk next to the bar’s outdoor patio. He stops to talk to a few people seated on the patio. As he’s talking with them, a woman who was standing against the wall of the bar approaches him and they begin to talk (or argue). Pacman leans over the rail to talk with the woman and points his finger at her. The woman then reaches out and sticks her beer bottle in Pacman’s face, almost like she wanted to pour it on him (screencap below).
We don’t know if she poured the drink on him or if the bottle made contact with Pacman’s face, but we know that Pacman did not like it, and he responded by taking a swing at the woman and knocking her down.
You can see her drink spill all over, and then Pacman is escorted away by his friend.
In an interview with ESPN 1530’s Mo Egger, Pacman defended himself and his actions.
“If you see the video, it’s self-defense,” Pacman told Egger. “They call me over there, and she said something. I forgot what she said. Before I know it, I was struck with a bottle and I was just trying to make sure I was alright. The only thing I was trying to do was defend myself. I didn’t draw back and swing at her with my right hand. It was just a quick reaction.
“My point in coming on [the radio] is to let people know I’m not out acting a fool, I’m not out drinking, getting drunk. All I was doing was protecting myself. I wouldn’t like to harm no woman, period,” Jones insisted to Egger.
Egger then raised a point with which we agree: it seems like Pacman’s reaction to swing at the woman was excessive and unnecessary. He asked Pacman if he felt he was being harmed when faced with the beer bottle.
“Of course. When I got hit, yes I did.”
Egger followed with a question asking whether the bottle did any physical damage to Jones, but his phone dropped after that, ending the interview.
Though the woman certainly initiated the incident by sticking the bottle in Pacman’s face, it seems like he escalated matters to an unnecessary level. But if he’s being arrested for an assault, the woman should be arrested for battery.
