Anthony Johnson Arrested And Charged With Identity Theft Following Successful Bellator Debut

Mandatory Credit: Lucas Noonan - Bellator MMA

Following his first outing under the Scott Coker-led Bellator MMA banner last Friday night, light heavyweight contender, Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson was arrested and charged with identity theft in Fairfield, Connecticut. 

The veteran Dublin, Georgia native took co-main event honours at Bellator 258 in his first outing under the promotion's banner. Linking up with the Coker-led organization back in December, Johnson was initially scheduled to meet against former UFC middleweight title challenger, Yoel Romero in the promotion's light heavyweight Grand Prix quarter final, however, Romero was removed from proceedings after he failed pre-fight medical screenings. 

In the Cuban's place stepped Brazil's, Jose Augusto, and despite stunning and dropping Johnson in the first round in a late rally, he suffered a huge second round knockout loss to the former two-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger. Augusto also suffered a broken right hand against Johnson in the opening round after he saw one of his strikes land on the forehead of the knockout artist. 

Arrested by officers from the New Canaan Police Department at the Mohegan Sun Arena, a warrant was served for Johnson in relation to an alleged incident of identity theft following a complaint issued dating back to 2019. News of Johnson's arrest was first reported by the Daily Voice.

"On 11/09/2019 the New Canaan Police took a complaint regarding a victim having their credit card being used by a third party without permission," the New Canann Police Department report read. 

"The illegal use of the credit card was used to purchase a round-trip airline ticket from Ft. Lauderdale, FL (Florida) (FLL) to Newark, NJ (New Jersey) (EWR)," The report continued. "The name of the passenger was Anthony Johnson. A subsequent investigation determined that Johnson used the illegally obtained credit card to purchase the airline ticket. An arrest warrant was obtained for Johnson for the above charges."

Johnson has since been released on a bond of $500, after he was charged for spending less than $500 on a credit card that had been revoked. The 37-year-old is set to appear at a court date on the 8. of June in relation to the above charges. 

If found guilty of the Class D felony offence, Johnson could face up to five years in prison or a fine of $5,000 and a period of probation. 

With his second round knockout win over Augusto, Johnson earned a semi final bracket in the Bellator light heavyweight world Grand Prix, tackling defending division gold holder, Vadim Nemkov for the championship.