Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson provided police with a detailed account of the events leading to her ex-boyfriend James Pearce Jr.’s arrest Saturday in Doral, Florida, according to the criminal complaint and affidavit obtained by ESPN from the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office.
Jackson, who recently ended a three-year relationship with Pearce, told officers she had blocked his phone number to prevent further contact. Despite this, Pearce reached out using an alternate number. Text messages from Pearce continued through Friday and into Saturday morning, even after Jackson explicitly told him via text on Friday afternoon to leave her alone and that she wanted nothing more to do with him. She showed these messages to police as evidence of ongoing unwanted communication.
On Saturday morning, Jackson reported noticing Pearce following her vehicle in a white Lamborghini SUV. When both cars stopped at a red light, Pearce exited his SUV and attempted to open the driver’s side door of Jackson’s car. Fearing for her safety, Jackson accelerated away and immediately began driving toward the Doral Police Department to seek help.
Career Over: #Falcons EDGE James Pearce Jr could face a lifetime in jail.
Based on the chargers here are an estimated prison time. pic.twitter.com/LIEfuXrukQ
— FirstDownMedia (@FirstDownMediaa) February 8, 2026
Pearce reentered his vehicle and continued the pursuit at a high rate of speed, according to Jackson’s statement. While en route to the police station, she said Pearce intentionally collided into the rear of her vehicle with his SUV.
As Jackson neared the intersection close to the police station, she described Pearce cutting her off with his vehicle, blocking her path. When she tried to back away to escape, Pearce allegedly used his SUV to collide head-on with her car. Photographs taken of Jackson’s vehicle showed damage consistent with both a rear-end and head-on impact, as noted in the police affidavit.
It took 7 police officers to stop James Pearce Jr., no wonder he had 10.5 sacks as a rookie pic.twitter.com/BcCal3XfdW
— GhettoGronk (@GhettoGronk) February 8, 2026
Jackson then called Doral police, who responded to the scene near the station. Officers located Pearce standing outside his SUV with the driver’s door open. An officer drew a weapon and ordered him to the ground, but Pearce got back into the vehicle, locked the doors and drove away, striking an officer in the left knee in the process, per the affidavit. Police pursued until Pearce crashed at an intersection, fled on foot and was eventually apprehended after resisting by tensing his arms.
Pearce, 23, a first-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2025 NFL Draft, faces five felony charges: two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and fleeing or eluding police, plus misdemeanor resisting an officer without violence. He posted $20,500 bond Sunday and was released, with a judge issuing a pretrial conditional stay-away order prohibiting contact with Jackson.
The Atlanta Falcons stated Saturday night they were “gathering more information” on the incident. No public statements have been released from Jackson or Pearce regarding her account. The case remains under investigation.
