Cleon Jones - Arrest and Apology

Arrest and Apology

Jones suffered a knee injury, and was out on extended spring training when the 1975 season started. At 5:00 a.m. on May 4, Jones was arrested for indecent exposure in St. Petersburg, Florida. Police officers found him asleep in a van with 21-year old Sharon Ann Sabol, who was charged with possession of marijuana. Jones said he did not know Miss Sabol, but was giving her a ride home in a friend's borrowed van, which ran out of gas, and that he had fallen asleep fully clothed, except for his shoes. Though the charges were later dropped, chairman of the New York Mets M. Donald Grant fined Jones $2,000, four times as much as a Met had ever been assessed before, and forced him to publicly apologize during a press conference held in New York. Jones apologized with his wife Angela, his high school sweetheart, by his side. He and Angela have been married for nearly 50 years.