American rapper William Roberts II, popularly known as Rick Ross, 50, has been arrested on charges of felony battery by strangulation and misdemeanour battery.
The rapper was arrested two days after the woman he was living with told police he hit her, according to authorities.
The woman who reported the assault said she had been living with Ross since 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, according to reports by American media.
However, Ross’ attorneys, Steve Sadow and Bradley Horenstein, said in a statement that their client had been wrongfully accused by an ex-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,” defense attorneys 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.”
This is not the rapper’s first run-in with the law. In 2017, Ross pled no contest 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.
The rapper has been released on a $5000 cash bail with arraignment set for October 22.
