WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo has been arrested on three counts of felony robbery for his role in a July bar dispute.
KSAT News in San Antonio, Texas reported the news of Charlo's arrest and the boxer's decision to turn himself in to Bexar County authorities on Wednesday. The alleged incident went down from the Privat Martini Bar & Social Club in San Antonio on July 16. Police had received a call around 2:00 AM that Charlo had gotten into an argument with one of the club's waitresses after having his credit card declined when attempting to pay his bill.
According to a report from TMZ Sports, authorities have surveillance video apparently showing the undefeated boxing champion acting "very animated" while then grabbing two binders filled with cash away from the waitress and stealing them. Charlo and his entourage continued to make their way out of the bar by "pushing their way past the employees" cops say, getting into a limousine bus to leave.
TMZ also obtained court documents where the waitress claims she suffered a lower leg injury in the incident. The San Antonio Police Department filed three second-degree arrest warrants for robbery against Charlo on August 7, leading to him eventually turning himself in today. Charlo's attorney, Kent A. Schaffer, gave the following statement in defense of his client via e-mail to KSAT News.
“I represent Jermall Charlo and I just saw your story regarding his case. I want to make clear that Jermall stole no money from anyone at the club and made no threats toward anyone. When they ran his card it was declined and he then received a fraud alert from Chase Bank asking if he had made the charge. He responded yes and they told him to have the charge submitted again. The waitress went to run it again and came back saying she could not find the card. Jermall was upset that his card was missing since it was a debit card tied to an account with a substantial amount of money. The waitress had his license sticking out of a portfolio and he took his license back saying that he didn’t want her to lose that too. By this time, many club employees were gathering in the hallway so Jermall’s handlers wanted to get him out of the club before trouble started and a club employee walked Jermall out to his car. Hours later Jermall’s assistant made contact with the club to give them another credit card number but the club refused to accept it. Over the last few weeks, we have talked to the police, prosecutors, and the club owner, and although the club owner expressed his desire to drop the charges the officer insisted on filing charges to try to embarrass Jermall. At no time did he rob anyone or take any property other than his own.”
Charlo is currently 32-0 as a pro and last competed against Juan Macias Montiel on June 19 where he took a unanimous decision victory in his fifth consecutive title defense. The alleged incident also happened a night before his twin brother Jermell Charlo's most recent bout, a split-draw with Brian Castano on July 17.
Montiel making it tough for @FutureOfBoxing going into the 12th #CharloMontiel pic.twitter.com/cw96AflgUU
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 20, 2021
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