The rapper was searched and taken into custody amid what one source called a “dumb arrest”
Grammy-winning rapper Nelly will not face any charges after he was searched and arrested at a Missouri casino last August when he tried to collect some winnings.
“We don’t believe the facts in this case warrant the issuing of charges,” a spokesman for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Nelly’s lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, agreed. “It’s the right result,” the lawyer tells Rolling Stone. He previously said the “Hot in Herre” rapper, born Cornell Haynes Jr., was detained on an old warrant from 2018 related to driving with no proof of insurance. Rosenblum denied the police claim that a search found Haynes in possession of four ecstasy pills.
“He won a jackpot at the casino. They ran him. He had an old warrant for driving without [proper paperwork], and they searched him. It was an improper search,” a law enforcement source close to the situation tells Rolling Stone. “It was a really dumb arrest.”
Haynes’ lawyer previously said an “overzealous” officer overseeing the prize collection “needlessly” ran a search for warrants, found the warrant, handcuffed Haynes and then “felt compelled” to “parade him through the casino in front of other customers.”
Haynes, 50, had welcomed his first child with singer Ashanti just weeks before the Aug. 7 arrest. The couple shared details of the birth in late August, confirming Kareem Kenkaide Haynes arrived on July 18.
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Haynes had a prior brush with law enforcement in 2015 when he was arrested in Tennessee after a search of his tour bus uncovered methamphetamines and marijuana.
“I feel the need to take responsibility for my choices in needing to be more aware of all the people I associate with and allow onto my property while committing to making better choices moving forward,” he said in a statement following the 2015 arrest. “While my instinct, of course, is to be accessible to my friends, fans, and acquaintances, the last thing I would want to do is compromise the respect and admiration of friends, family, and fans.” He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
