by David P. Greisman
Former lightweight titleholder Omar Figueroa was arrested last week on an open warrant from a 2012 case in Hidalgo County, Texas, accusing him of driving while intoxicated, according to online court records.
Figueroa, 25, was booked into police custody at 1:18 a.m. on March 26 and was released at 10:49 p.m. that day, out on $1,000 bond. The arrest comes with about a month until Figueroa’s next scheduled fight.
This appears to stem from an old but still open case. Online court records for this arrest reference a case number that dates back to a DWI case from late July 2012 and has brought numerous pretrial hearings in 2013, 2014 and in January 2015.
That latter hearing was scheduled for Jan. 28 — and a warrant for Figueroa’s arrest was granted that same day, a “NISI” warrant that typically indicates that a defendant has failed to appear in court. The warrant was signed Feb. 5, and a “capias” warrant commanding police officers to take Figueroa into custody was issued Feb. 6.
Another pretrial hearing was scheduled for Monday, March 30 — while a bond forfeiture hearing is scheduled for June 18.
Figueroa is scheduled to fight Ricky Burns in Texas on May 9, the first bout for Figueroa since he moved up from lightweight to junior welterweight. It remains to be seen whether that bout will be affected.
Figueroa last fought in August 2014, knocking out Daniel Estrada and moving to 24-0-1 with 18 KOs.
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