Las Vegas Metro PoliceMMA fighter Jonathan "War Machine" Koppenhaver tried to commit suicide in a Las Vegas jail earlier this week.
The 32-year-old mixed martial artist, who was arrested in August after allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend, adult entertainer Christy Mack, attempted to kill himself by hanging in his cell Tuesday night.
According to an official release from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, at around 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, "a corrections officer was conducting routine walk-throughs inside the Clark County Detention Center when he noticed inmate Jonathan Koppenhaver in a seated position on the floor with his feet resting on the bunk. The officer also noticed what appeared to be a torn piece of linen around his neck that was tied to the leg of his bunk."
The officer called out to Koppenhaver several times but he was unresponsive. After entering his cells, "the officer quickly observed that Koppenhaver was struggling to breathe and proceeded to cut the ligature from Koppenhaver's neck. Additional officers arrived to assist and continued to check Koppenhaver for response. Koppenhaver's breathing became less strained and he started to respond to them by attempting to speak."
Medical personnel arrived to assess Koppenhaver's health. After being stabilized, the sports star was moved to medical isolation and placed on suicide watch. After the incident, officials also discovered a suicide letter left by Koppenhaver.
Koppenhaver was arrested in Simi, Valley, Calif., on Aug. 15. Prior to his arrest, an arrest warrant was issued stemming from an incident in Las Vegas involving Mack, from which he was charged with several counts of battery, assault with a deadly weapon and other crimes.