Alouettes put up the Bat-Signal, bring in Kitwana Jones

Herb Zurkowsky of The Montreal Gazette reports that the Alouettes have apparently signed veteran free agent Kitwana "Batman" Jones (pictured above right after a Roughriders game last year), who played with Saskatchewan last year. Jones, 29, has the size (6'0'', 240 pounds) and speed to play linebacker or defensive end, so he should bring some versatility to the Montreal defence. Last year, he put up four sacks, 13 defensive tackles and 17 special-teams tackles in limited playing time with the Riders. He has seven seasons of CFL experience, so the Alouettes are getting a guy who knows his way around the league.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Jones is how he picked up the "Batman" moniker. It comes from his brief 2009 stint in Edmonton, when he witnessed a mugging on the street and decided to do something about it:

"I heard a woman screaming and I'm like ‘What in the world?'" said Jones. "I seen a guy running around a building with the purses."

When Jones saw a woman in her 50s running after the man, he got out of his vehicle and began chasing the suspect. Police say the man robbed a woman in her 50s at around 6:45 a.m. The woman was walking near 100th Avenue and 103rd Street when she was approached by the man, who wrestled away her purse and laptop. The suspect took off running, a witness following close behind.

Jones joined the chase and caught up to the suspect in a nearby alley half a block away.

"It was like, ‘Hey K.J., you gotta do what you gotta do.' So I ran him down, hit him on the back of the head."

The lineman held the suspect down in the alley until police arrived, and said he only roughed up the suspect a little. 

"If you would have seen the forearm to the back of the head, that would have been a penalty."

Jones' brand of vigilante justice may be less violent than that typically practiced by Batman, but it certainly produced results. The woman got her purse and her computer back, and the story got picked up everywhere from Green Is The Colour to The Daily XY to Deadspin. Unfortunately, the rest of Jones' time in Edmonton didn't go as well, as he was released shortly thereafter. He wound up returning to Saskatchewan within 10 days and quickly making an impact with the Riders. Now, he'll have the chance to play for their Grey Cup nemesis, the Alouettes. Montreal muggers had better watch out for Batman, and opposing quarterbacks might want to be careful too; Jones packs some mean pass-rushing techniques in that utility belt.

Christina Applegate Shana Hiatt Tara Conner Drea de Matteo Trista Rehn