Rick Ross Charged With Felony Strangulation After Miami Beach Arrest

Rapper Rick Ross, whose legal name is William Roberts II, was arrested in Miami Beach early Thursday on a felony charge of battery by strangulation and a misdemeanor battery charge, according to online court records.

The 50-year-old turned himself in at the Miami Beach Police Station on Thursday morning, two days after a woman filed a police report accusing him of assaulting her. He was released later that day on a cash bond. An arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 22.

According to an arrest report, the woman told Miami Beach detectives she had been living with Ross on Aug. 28 when he accused her of cheating and struck her multiple times. She said he also choked her with the collar of her shirt and slammed her into a wall. She told investigators she eventually left the home and returned later, after Ross had gone, to retrieve her belongings.

Ross’s attorney, Steve Sadow, disputed the account in a statement, pointing to the gap between the alleged incident and the report.

“The ex did not even file a police report until a month after the claimed incident allegedly took place. 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.”

Court records confirm Ross has pleaded not guilty to both counts.

This is not Ross’s first brush with a battery charge. In 2017 he pleaded no contest to aggravated assault in Georgia after being accused of forcing a man into a guesthouse at his mansion outside Atlanta in 2015 and beating him with a handgun. Under Georgia’s first-offender program, the court later issued an order exonerating him of guilt on that felony count.

A Miami hip-hop pioneer

Ross has lived in South Florida for decades and became a national figure in 2006 with his debut single “Hustlin’,” which was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Academy of America and touched off a bidding war among labels before he signed with Jay-Z’s Def Jam Records.

His debut album, “Port of Miami,” went platinum and hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the first of several chart-topping releases including 2008’s “Trilla” and 2009’s “Deeper Than Rap.” He has received nine Grammy nominations and founded the label Maybach Music Group in 2008, which helped launch the careers of Wale, Meek Mill and French Montana. His latest album, “Set In Stone,” came out in July.

The criminal case against him is now pending in Miami-Dade County, with his next court date set for later this month.