Source : Perth Now news
US rapper Rick Ross has been arrested and charged with battery after a woman he was living with told police he hit her.
Ross, whose legal name is William Roberts II, surrendered on Thursday at Miami Beach Police Station in Florida, two days after the woman filed a report with police, officials said.
He faces a felony charge of battery by strangulation, as well as a misdemeanour battery charge, according to online court records.
A lawyer for Ross, 50, said in a statement his client was being wrongfully accused by a former girlfriend whose true motivations are unclear.
“The ex did not even file a police report until a month after the claimed incident allegedly took place,” defence lawyer Steve Sadow said in the statement.
“Mr. Roberts is innocent and has pled not guilty to the charges. He respectfully requests that his friends, fans and the general public not prejudge the situation and allow the judicial process to run its course.”
Ross was released from jail on a $US5000 ($A7200) cash bond later on Thursday, according to court records. An arraignment is scheduled for October 22.
According to an arrest report, a woman told Miami Beach detectives that she had been living with Ross on August 28, when he accused her of cheating on him and struck her multiple times.
She said Ross also choked her with the collar of her shirt and slammed her into a wall. The woman said she was eventually able to leave the home and then returned later — after Ross left — to collect her belongings.
Ross pleaded no contest in 2017 to aggravated assault after he was accused of forcing a man into a guesthouse at his suburban-Atlanta mansion in 2015 and beating him with a handgun, according to Georgia court records. Under a first-offender program in Georgia, the court issued an order exonerating Ross of guilt on that felony count.
Ross is a longtime South Florida resident who gained prominence in 2006 with his debut single Hustlin’.
His debut album, Port of Miami, also went platinum, debuting at No 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was the first in a series of chart-toppers, including 2008’s Trilla and 2009’s Deeper Than Rap. He has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards.
His most recent album, Set In Stone, was released in July.
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