WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo was arrested Wednesday on felony robbery charges following an alleged dispute with a waitress over a bar tab.
According to Texas court records, Charlo was booked Wednesday on three counts of second-degree robbery stemming from an incident in July. Charlo posted bond for all three charges and was released.
According to the records, Charlo and others were at a bar in San Antonio the night before Charlo's brother, Jermell, fought Brian Castano for the undisputed junior middleweight title. According to the police affidavit, Charlo did not pay a "large bar bill" after his credit card was declined three times.
Bar employees told police that Charlo accused a waitress of losing his credit card and demanded she pay the bill instead. The affidavit states that surveillance video shows Charlo going through two of the waitress' bill collection binders, which contained his identification and another customer's cash payment. When the binders were returned, police said, they were empty.
On Thursday, Charlo's attorney, Kent Schaffer, challenged the police's version of events, telling ESPN that the boxer's payment was initially declined because the bank detected a potential fraud charge. After the payment was authorized, the waitress informed him they had lost his debit card.
Schaffer said the bar staff had agreed to settle the tab of around $2,300 the next day. But by then, police were involved.
"He wasn't trying to walk the tab," Schaffer said. "It's very, very clear he was trying to pay."
While the surveillance video had no audio, the affidavit states that Charlo yelled that he would "f--- you all's s--- up." The Texas penal code states that a robbery charge is escalated to a second-degree felony if it involves a threat or "places another in fear of imminent bodily injury or death." The crime is punishable between two and 20 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Schaffer said that if prosecutors proceed with the case, Charlo will "never" plead guilty.
"He didn't rob anyone," Schaffer said. "He didn't steal anything from anybody. He never put his hands on one person."
Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), 31, is ESPN's top-ranked middleweight. He is coming off a successful title defense over Juan Macias Montiel in June.