Former UFC champ BJ Penn charged with family abuse; slapped with restraining order

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn was arrested and charged twice in the past few days for abusing his 79-year-old mother, according to the Hawaiʻi County court documents.

Hawaiʻi Island police officers first responded to a reported domestic dispute at the home of Lorraine Shin on Sunday. When they arrived, Shin told them that Penn, her 46-year-old son, had taken her mail and shined a bright flashlight in her eyes when she asked for the mail to be returned.

As Shin tried to move the flashlight, Penn grabbed her arms and shoved her against a vehicle, causing back pain, according to court documents.

Penn was arrested and charged with abuse of family or household member. He was taken to the East Hawai‘i Detention Facility in Hilo for the booking and identification process. He later posted $2,000 bail and was released.

Penn posted a video of his arrest on social media.

Upon Penn’s release, police say a 48-hour warning citation was issued, where he was not to have contact with Shin.

Penn allegedly violated that warning citation the following day when he Shin told police he returned to her home in the morning, court documents said.

Penn left the residence before police arrived, but a short time later at 9:30 a.m. he was located nearby and arrested and charged again with abuse of a family or household member. He again was transported to the East Hawai‘i Detention Facility.

On Tuesday, the Family Court in Hilo conducted a hearing in the case, where Penn wasn’t present, Hawai‘i County prosecuting attorney Kelden Waltjen said.

Waltjen filed a motion for revocation of release on bail.

Shin filed a temporary restraining order against her son in 3rd Circuit Family Court on Tuesday for what she describes as “extreme psychological abuse.”

According to court documents, Penn’s mother states that Penn accused her of killing his family and taking over his mother’s identity, and “he wants me to be removed from his home.”

Shin thinks 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a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, other close family member has been replaced by an identical imposter.

“He believes I’m an imposter who has killed his family to gain control of the family assets,” Shin stated in the order.

Penn, considered one of the best lightweight mixed martial arts fighters of all time, last fought in 2019, ending his legendary career with seven straight losses.

He recently claimed online that multiple members of his family are missing, and accused unnamed imposters of replacing those family members to steal his inheritance. He publicly asked the Hilo Police Department last month to investigate their murders.

In an Instagram post April 8, Penn wrote: “If I harm any of these people that are acting like my mom or my brothers, I go to jail and lose everything. If they harm me, nothing will happen to them and I lose everything

“I have my black belts over the years that are police officers. Are you guys gonna help me? Are we going to help [my brothers] and my mother and look for them and investigate these fake frauds who are trying to steal everything from my family?”