UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn was arrested Friday in Hawaii, his home state, for the third time in six days as his family airs their concerns about his mental health.
Penn was previously arrested on May 25 and 26, both times on charges of abuse of a family/household member. Penn’s mother, Lorraine Shin, filed a temporary restraining order against him, and the May 26 arrest was because he violated the restraining order.
Penn was due to appear in court as a condition of his bail and he failed to do so, resulting in the third arrest Friday. Penn argued unsuccessfully that he did not come to court because he had COVID-19, according to KHON2.
Penn also requested a restraining order against his mother, which was denied.
Penn has claimed repeatedly on Instagram that his family was secretly murdered and replaced by impostors, which is the main symptom of a rare psychiatric order called Capgras delusion.
“I believe my son (B.J. Penn) is suffering from Capgras delusional syndrome (a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, other close family member has been replaced by an identical imposter),” Shin said in a statement to authorities. “He believes I’m an imposter who has killed his family to gain control of the family assets.”
Shin has claimed in court filings that Penn has stolen belongings from her bedroom and put glue into the deadbolt on her bedroom door in an attempt to keep her from entering it.
She further alleged that Penn used a bright flashlight to temporarily blind her when she wanted to call police, and he grabbed her arms and shoved her against the side of a car, causing a sharp pain in her back.
–Field Level Media
