CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati prosecutor Joe Deters will not pursue a felony charge of harassment with a bodily substance against Bengals cornerback Adam Jones, he announced Wednesday.
Jones, 33, was arrested Jan. 3 in Cincinnati for allegedly pushing a security guard and poking him in the eye and then refusing to comply with law enforcement officers. He then spit on the hand of a nurse while he was being booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Jones' lawyer Timothy Schneider said they plan to plead not guilty to the remaining misdemeanor charges of assault, disorderly conduct and obstructing official business. The city of Cincinnati will handle that case.
"It was a pretty ... ticky tack kind of charge," Deters said Wednesday of the felony charge on the "Bill Cunningham Show" on 700 WLW in Cincinnati. "Jones had some chew in his cheek and he spit it out and hit the nurse's hand and was charged for that."
Deters said the nurse involved in the case appeared to be seeking a civil settlement from Jones, which factored into his decision to drop the charges.
"She said I talked to her; I never spoke with her," Deters said. "I've still never spoken with her in any fashion about this case. Secondly, she denied that they were trying to get a civil settlement, which is entirely false. ... I'm not going to use the sledgehammer of criminal prosecution to get her money. She's been untruthful in talking to me, she's been untruthful about her willingness to settle this thing civilly."
Deters said another factor was Jones' willingness to enter alcohol-related and anger management treatment.
"He's actively in treatment right now, and the doctor has indicted to me that Adam Jones has extended his treatment program beyond what they normally do because he wants to fix himself for the good of his family," Deters said.
A video from the back of the cop car appeared to show Jones going on a tirade against the arresting police officer and shouting multiple profanities and insults at him, including "I hope you die tomorrow." No additional charges came from that incident.
Deters has no jurisdiction over the remaining charges, but he said he would dismiss them as well if it were up to him.
"It's just drunken foolishness," Deters said. "Cincinnati police probably handle 10-25 cases like that in Cincinnati. Everyone thinks, 'Oh, Pacman Jones got a deal because he's a Bengal.' I don't even know the guy. I don't go to the football games and I could care less. But I know what's important in being a prosecutor -- sometimes you have to deal with drunken people as a police officer or as a worker in the jail. That's the nature of the job ...
"It's not really a priority. It really is not. If he had truly assaulted someone -- truly hurt someone, which he did not -- that's a different story. ... Adam Jones was not violent, but he was in fact disorderly. ... He was just being, for lack of a better term, an idiot."
Deters said he has not talked to the NFL about the case. Jones could still face discipline from the league.
"Our review continues under the personal conduct policy, which states that a player may still be subject to potential discipline even if the conduct does not result in a criminal conviction," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email.
Jones could be considered a repeat offender in the league's eyes, having found himself in trouble with both the law and the NFL several times before. He was suspended by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for the entire 2007 season for off-the-field conduct related to a shooting incident in a Las Vegas nightclub earlier that year.
Jones was also acquitted of a 2013 assault charge after a woman accused him of punching her outside of a nightclub. The NFL did not suspend him for the incident.
Jones has been with the Bengals since 2010 and has two years remaining on his contract. He has started 30 regular-season games for them during the last two years and made the Pro Bowl in 2014.