A jarring video has been released regarding a UFC Hall of Famer’s recent arrest.
Stephan Bonnar, a pioneer of mixed martial arts, was arrested Sunday on a felony DUI charge after alleged reckless driving on a freeway near Las Vegas. On Thursday, the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) released the police body cam footage of Bonnar’s arrest and it shows an incoherent, barely conscious Bonnar being dragged from his vehicle.
The officer pulls Bonnar from the Cadillac CTS onto a dirt area on the side of the freeway. Once there, civilians who helped to restrain Bonnar before police arrived assisted the officer with handcuffing the retired fighter.
Bonnar, 41, was also charged with resisting a public official and unsafe starting or movement of a stopped vehicle. He was initially helped on $22,000 bail and released Monday. This was his third DUI offense, according to an NHP press release. Bonnar is due back in Las Vegas Justice Court on Nov. 26.
Per the release, multiple people called 911 about a red Cadillac CTS being driven in a “reckless manner” Sunday on the I-15 freeway. Callers said the driver — later found out to be Bonnar — was going more than 90 mph with unsafe lane changes.
As NHP troopers were responding, more calls came in that citizens surrounded the vehicle, forcing it to a stop. The first trooper to respond reported that Bonnar had been “physically restrained” by fellow motorists and “appeared to be incoherent,” per the release. Bonnar can be seen with both hands tied onto his car with orange cords in the body cam video.
“The Trooper reported smelling the odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage emitting from the driver and displaying signs of intoxication,” the NHP release stated. “Medical staff responded to the scene and determined nothing medically was abnormal with the driver.”
Bonnar has not fought since a bout with Tito Ortiz under the Bellator banner in 2014. He is best known for his fight against Forrest Griffin in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 1. That bout, one of the best in MMA history, is credited with the UFC continuing on cable television and being a huge groundbreaker for the sport. Bonnar has not fought in the UFC since 2012.
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