Falcons’ James Pearce Jr. charged with 3 felonies in incident involving WNBA’s Rickea Jackson

Atlanta Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr. is facing three felony charges and one misdemeanor stemming from a Feb. 7 incident involving WNBA star Rickea Jackson. The charges were brought by the Miami-Dade County state attorney of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit on Thursday.

Pearce was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, fleeing the police and resisting an officer with violence, all felonies, according to court documents. He is also facing a misdemeanor stalking charge. He faced an additional felony charge of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer when he was arrested, but that charge was dropped.

Pearce was arrested in Dade County, Fla., on Feb. 7 and spent that night in jail after an incident with Jackson. According to an arrest affidavit filed in the case, he followed Jackson’s car for an extended period, intentionally collided with both her front and rear bumpers, and attempted to block her access to a Doral police department building. He and Jackson had a three-year relationship, but, per the arrest affidavit, Jackson told a police officer that she told Pearce to “leave her alone,” and she blocked his phone number before he used another phone to continue trying to contact her.

Before the 22-year-old Pearce was released from jail after posting a $20,500 bond, a judge ordered him to stay 500 feet away from Jackson’s home. Jackson indicated in a court filing that she is willing to testify against Pearce at trial.

The Falcons released a statement following the arrest, stating the team was aware of the incident but did not have any further comment since it was an open legal matter. Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich later said, “Just don’t have all the details of it. We’ll see. It’s still so early. We are not there yet either way (to know if Pearce will be with the team next year). … I was obviously disappointed.”

Pearce’s agent, Tory Dandy, declined comment on Pearce’s situation when approached by The Athletic at the NFL combine in Indianapolis last month.

The Falcons selected Pearce with the No. 26 pick of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He went on to lead the team and all league rookies with 10.5 sacks.