DORAL, Fla. — NFL linebacker James Pearce Jr. stalked WNBA star Rickea Jackson and purposely crashed into her vehicle twice in the minutes leading up to his arrest in Doral over the weekend, according to arrest reports made public on Monday.
Police said the Atlanta Falcons rookie and the Los Angeles Sparks player had recently broken up.
Authorities said that after crashing into Jackson’s vehicle as she drove to the police station, Pearce, 22, of Charlotte, North Carolina, purposely hit an officer as he tried to flee authorities Saturday. He’s now facing several charges.
A Doral Police Department report states that Jackson, 24, had blocked Pearce’s phone number after ending their three-year relationship but he continued contacting her using an alternate number and sent her unwanted texts.
Authorities said just before 9:25 Saturday morning, Jackson noticed Pearce’s Lamborghini SUV behind her as she turned into her neighborhood. They said she kept driving and as she stopped at a red light at Northwest 102nd Avenue and 74th Street, Pearce got out of his vehicle and tried to open her driver’s side door.
“Fearing for her safety, (Jackson) stated that she accelerated away from the intersection,” the DPD report states. “(Pearce) reentered his vehicle and continued pursuing (her) at a high rate of speed.”
Authorities said that as Jackson, who had also called 911, tried to drive to the DPD headquarters, Pearce purposely rear-ended her.
Police said as Jackson drove “in multiple circles around the area of the police station in an attempt to evade” Pearce and as she got near the station, he “again cut her off and blocked her access to the police station.”
As she reversed her vehicle in an attempt to “escape” Pearce, he “intentionally collided head-on with her vehicle,” the report states.
According to a separate DPD report, officers arrived soon after and as an officer pulled out his gun and ordered Pearce to the ground, the athlete ignored his commands and got back in his Lamborghini. Police said the officer tried to open the door to get Pearce out twice, but he drove away and hit the officer in the knee as he fled.
As he led officers on a chase, Pearce eventually crashed near Northwest 102nd Path and 65th Lane and began to run away, police said.
“While officers were attempting to apprehend (Pearce), (he) began to resist arrest by tensing his arms and not allowing officers to apprehend him,” the report states. “After a short struggle, the defendant was taken into custody shortly after.”
Cops arrested Pearce on two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count each of aggravated stalking, fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting without violence.
After appearing in Miami-Dade bond court, where a judge ordered him to stay away from Jackson, Pearce was released from jail on Sunday after posting bail.
He did not speak with Local 10 as he left the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
The Falcons picked Pearce during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Before that, both he and Jackson starred in their respective sports at the University of Tennessee.
“We are in the process of gathering more information and will not have any further comment on an open legal matter at this time,” a spokesperson for the Falcons wrote in a statement released on Saturday.
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