The R&B star Chris Brown has been arrested in Florida on a charge of felony battery. On Thursday the singer and rapper performed a concert on his Heartbreak on a Full Moon tour in West Palm Beach, Florida, and was arrested shortly afterwards.
He was taken to the nearby Palm Beach county jail, and was released on bail of $2,000 (€1,700). It is not yet clear who has accused him of the alleged offence.
Alongside a career that has included seven US top-five albums, and hits such as Run It, No Air and Loyal, Brown has been apprehended numerous times by police. Most famously, in 2009 he attacked his then girlfriend Rihanna, leaving her bruised and bleeding. "I really hit her, with a closed fist, I punched her ... that's going to haunt me forever," he said in a recent documentary.
In October 2013, he was arrested on an assault charge after being accused of punching a man who tried to have his photo taken with Brown, later pleading guilty to the incident.
The violation of his probation following the attack on Rihanna meant that he was sentenced to 131 days in jail, though was released early.
Another girlfriend, Karrueche Tran, won a five-year restraining order against Brown in 2017, alleging that he had threatened her with violence. In January 2016, a woman accused him of punching her in a Las Vegas nightclub, though Brown denied it and charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. In August 2016, an unidentified woman reported Brown to the Los Angeles police, saying he had threatened her with a gun at his house – he was released on $250,000 bail and has never faced trial over the incident.
In May 2018, he was sued by a woman who claimed she was raped at his home by one of his friends, Lowell Grissom Jr – the lawsuit is ongoing, though Brown’s lawyer has stated: “My investigation shows that none of these allegations are true.” – Agencies, Guardian Service
