Michael RothsteinCloseMichael RothsteinESPN Staff WriterMichael Rothstein, based in Atlanta, is a reporter on ESPN’s investigative and enterprise team. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein.Follow on X and Marc RaimondiCloseMarc RaimondiESPN Staff WriterMarc Raimondi’s first year covering the Falcons was 2024, but it wasn’t his first year at ESPN. He joined the company in 2019 and was a top combat sports reporter. He also covered professional wrestling and wrote the book “Say Hello to the Bad Guys: How Pro Wrestling’s New World Order Changed America,” which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Raimondi also worked for the New York Post and Newsday, beginning in 2009, covering high school and college sports, plus the NFL, NFL, MLB and NHL.Follow on XMultiple AuthorsMar 11, 2026, 05:11 PM ET
WNBA player Rickea Jackson filed a petition for protection against her ex-boyfriend, Atlanta Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr., saying that she was “in fear of my life” and that if the court didn’t intervene she believed “James will kill me,” according to court documents obtained by ESPN.
Jackson, who plays for the Los Angeles Sparks, filed the petition for injunction for protection against dating violence in the days following Pearce’s arrest on battery and stalking charges, after he allegedly rammed his car into hers Feb. 7. Jackson separately filed notice with the court that she was willing to testify in proceedings against Pearce.
Jackson wrote that Pearce “verbally and physically abused me on more than one occasion” and threatened to kill, harm and injure her and to place a bag over her head, according to the court filing.
Pearce then allegedly struck a police officer with his car, according to the initial incident report, before he crashed his vehicle and ran but was eventually arrested by officers.
Pearce, 22, faces five felony charges — two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated stalking, fleeing and eluding police officers, and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer. He also faces nine traffic citations and a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer without violence to his person.
Jackson, 24, wrote in the petition that she became more afraid for her safety after trying to break up with Pearce weeks before his arrest. She also said Pearce told her he would give her “up to $75,000” to visit with him and “$200,000 to remain in a relationship with him” in the hours leading up to the Feb. 7 incident.
The Falcons declined to comment to ESPN. Jackson’s attorneys and Pearce’s attorney and agent did not immediately return messages left by ESPN.
Jackson said that Pearce believed she was cheating on him and that tensions escalated during a confrontation in January. She wrote in the petition that Pearce took her cellphone, pulled her hair and snatched her belongings, and that she did not want to be in a relationship with him following the confrontation. She said, “James did not listen to my request and instead went on a campaign of threats, physical assaults and abuse against me.”
The description of the encounter is similar to that of one that occurred in an Uber, according to a Jan. 28 police report filed in Davie, Florida, and obtained by ESPN .
Police in Florida responded to at least seven other 911 calls made involving Pearce and an ex-girlfriend whose name was redacted from police reports from November until the day of Pearce’s arrest.
She said he then reentered his vehicle and chased her car, striking her car multiple times to get her to spin out. She said he cut her off with his vehicle and eventually spun out himself. She said Pearce ran her off the road before she reached the Doral police station. Upon reaching the station, she flagged down an officer as Pearce rammed her car with his. It is then she says the officer attempted to arrest Pearce, who left the scene. The initial incident report stated that police pulled a gun on Pearce and he did not obey their commands, instead getting back into his car.
Davie police spoke with Jackson in person and then by phone with Pearce, who said there was not a physical altercation. In the report, he admitted to thinking Jackson was cheating and explained that she offered to let him search both her phones. An Uber driver who was present during at least part of the incident told police he only observed a verbal argument, not a physical one, and police did not see any bruising or injury to Jackson, determining there was no evidence of a crime due to the conflicting statements and lack of physical injury.
CloseMichael RothsteinESPN Staff WriterMichael Rothstein, based in Atlanta, is a reporter on ESPN’s investigative and enterprise team. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein.Follow on X
Michael RothsteinCloseMichael RothsteinESPN Staff WriterMichael Rothstein, based in Atlanta, is a reporter on ESPN’s investigative and enterprise team. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein.Follow on X and Marc RaimondiCloseMarc RaimondiESPN Staff WriterMarc Raimondi’s first year covering the Falcons was 2024, but it wasn’t his first year at ESPN. He joined the company in 2019 and was a top combat sports reporter. He also covered professional wrestling and wrote the book “Say Hello to the Bad Guys: How Pro Wrestling’s New World Order Changed America,” which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Raimondi also worked for the New York Post and Newsday, beginning in 2009, covering high school and college sports, plus the NFL, NFL, MLB and NHL.Follow on XMultiple Authors
CloseMarc RaimondiESPN Staff WriterMarc Raimondi’s first year covering the Falcons was 2024, but it wasn’t his first year at ESPN. He joined the company in 2019 and was a top combat sports reporter. He also covered professional wrestling and wrote the book “Say Hello to the Bad Guys: How Pro Wrestling’s New World Order Changed America,” which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Raimondi also worked for the New York Post and Newsday, beginning in 2009, covering high school and college sports, plus the NFL, NFL, MLB and NHL.Follow on X