Jones Denies Wrong Doing

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday he had no idea police were pursuing him after he left the scene of a traffic stop.

Jones made the comment in a radio interview, his first about the events that began Sunday when he drove away as a police officer in suburban Highland Park was writing a traffic ticket.

Police had considered charging Jones with fleeing the scene of a traffic stop but decided on a charge of interference with public duties.

Both charges are Class B misdemeanors, carrying a maximum penalty of a $2,000 fine and 180 days in jail.

Jones told KLIF Radio in Dallas that he saw no police car behind his car after he and his family left his security people to deal with the traffic ticket and headed to his grandson's baptism.

He said the first inkling of trouble was when a police officer pulled up behind him at a church in neighboring University Park and ordered him back into his car.

"The mental picture of me driving through Highland Park with an officer behind me with lights on is not correct. As a matter of fact, there was nobody behind me from the initial stop (in Highland Park) to the church. I got out, my family got out. Then a police car drove up," Jones said.

The Cowboys' owner said the police officer, who was different from the one who was writing the ticket, told him to get back in his car. Jones said he drove around a nearby corner to get out from in front of the church.

"That's when he proceeded to tell me that we had an obvious disagreement," he said.

Jones said his security men were driving the two family vehicles when the speeding stop was made, and that he believed they were capable of providing the police with all the information the ticketing officer needed without his help.

Nevertheless, he repeated his regret for the incident, in which he's been charged with misdemeanor interference with public duties.

Highland Park Director of Public Safety Darrell Fant has said Jones was clearly agitated in his encounter with the officer, saying he had an emergency and asking to speak with a supervisor. However, Jones said everyone was courteous -- including himself.

Authorities said a police video of the incident won't be made public until the case is resolved.

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