Rapper’s arrest stems from August 28 incident with his then-girlfriend at his Florida mansion; Ross charged with felony battery by strangulation
Rick Ross was arrested Thursday morning in Miami Beach on domestic violence charges including a felony count of battery by strangulation.
The rapper, born William Roberts II, voluntarily surrendered to Miami Beach Police headquarters, and was soon after booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, the Sun Sentinel reports. Ross was charged with one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor count of battery. His bond was set at $6,000.
According to police, Ross’ arrest stems from an August 28 incident at the rapper’s Star Island home, where an unnamed woman — who said she was Ross’ live-in girlfriend of over a year — told police that an argument escalated to the point that Ross slapped her, “restricted her breathing by twisting the collar of her hoodie,” and slammed her against the wall, resulting in injuries.
“All I can say is that the allegations are false. He’s innocent. Everything is going to come out,” Ross’ lawyer Bradley Horenstein told CBS News Miami on Thursday. “We just ask that you allow the process to play out before rushing to judgment, because the truth will come in.” (A rep for Ross did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.)
While the woman is unnamed in the police report, Ross’ ex-girlfriend Jazzma Kendrick accused the rapper of physical abuse in a series of social media posts last week; the injuries Kendrick claimed to sustain, including a “busted lip,” match those of the victim in the Miami Beach police report.
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““The day Rick busted my lip and the day I left,” Kendrick wrote in a since-expired Instagram Story of her injury. “I don’t know a lot of things, but I do know that a man that puts his hands on me, is a man that never loved me and never will.”
Ross’ arraignment is scheduled for October 22.