Verstappen arrested after girlfriend assault

Jos Verstappen has been arrested in his native Netherlands. The former Benetton, Stewart and Minardi driver turned himself into police after fleeing the scene following an incident involving his 24-year-old ex-girlfriend, according to Flemish newspaper De Standaard.

Jos Verstappen

Photo by: Minardi Formula 1

Dutch police confirmed the arrest of a 39-year-old man after an incident in the southeastern city Roermond.

Unconfirmed media reports say Verstappen deliberately struck his former girlfriend - who was taken by ambulance to hospital with heavy bruises and abrasions - with a car.

Verstappen was previously accused of beating his girlfriend.

"It's definitely not the first time he does this," the unnamed woman told RTL television. "I think now I need to go and hide -- I don't know what to expect now when he is released."

In 2008, Verstappen was fined and sentenced to three months suspended jail time over an assault case involving his ex-wife.

And more than ten years ago, he was convicted of assault after fracturing a man's skull at a kart track.

Verstappen contested over 100 grands prix between 1994 and 2003.