Rick Ross to be arraigned on misdemeanor battery in domestic violence incident

The state of Florida has filed a battery/domestic violence misdemeanor charge against rapper Rick Ross after an alleged incident at his Star Island home in late August, according to court documents. He will be arraigned on Friday.

The rapper, whose legal name is William Leonard Roberts II, was originally arrested on Oct. 1 on felony battery by strangulation and misdemeanor battery. Those charges have since been dropped, and the state will be prosecuting him on one battery/domestic violence charge, which is a misdemeanor.

He has pleaded not guilty.

According to an arrest report, Ross was accused of beating, strangling and slamming his girlfriend after he questioned her about whether she had lied to him. The incident happened at the rapper’s home on the exclusive island neighborhood, where the pair had been living together before the attack.

Last week, while waiting to hear if prosecutors would file criminal charges, Ross’ defense attorney Brad Horenstein maintained his client’s innocence.

“Mr. Ross is innocent,” Horenstein said. “There are serious doubts about this case. These are fabrications. We asked you to hold your judgment and wait because the truth will come out.”

Rick Ross accused of beating, choking girlfriend

The arrest report details that the victim said on the morning of Aug. 28 she was woken up by Ross, who was “enraged” because she was “tagged in a photo on Instagram.” The victim said Ross “questioned her about lying to him and then proceeded to slap the victim in the face,” later accusing her of being in a relationship with a person “she was merely friends with.”

The report goes on to say that every time his girlfriend denied the accusations, Ross struck her, including in the chest several times. He “also choked the victim to the point she could not breathe by grabbing the collar of the hoodie she was wearing and twisting it,” police said.

At one point, Ross is accused of grabbing the victim by her ponytail and slamming her against the wall, before striking her in the face as she was bent over, “causing a busted lip.” He then pushed her to the floor, and turned on the shower to try to spray her with the shower head, the report states.

The victim was able to get out of the bathroom and leave the home before she went back inside, police said. After Ross left, she “gathered her belongings and left the residence.”

Police said the victim “provided photographic evidence of her injuries with time stamps coinciding with the event.”

She also told police that she had contacted a friend to picked her up at Ross’ home, but that friend was “turned away.” Detectives were also made aware of possible video footage related to the incident, and Ross posted a picture on his Instagram of the friend arriving at the scene.

“Not only were our investigators able to obtain a victim statement, but they also collected photographs of the injuries, surveillance video of the alleged incident, and they were able to establish probable cause for this arrest,” Miami Beach Police spokesman Christopher Bess said at the time. “It paints a picture of a very violent attack.”

Ross turned himself in to Miami Beach police on Oct. 1, authorities said. He was arrested and charged accordingly.

Police said he declined to provide a statement on the advice of his legal counsel.

“Our detectives, our police department, takes any allegations of domestic violence very seriously, which is why we acted swiftly,” Bess said. “No matter the celebrity, no matter the status of the alleged offender, we will investigate allegations of this sort.”

The Grammy-nominated artist is a South Florida native who found stardom in 2005 with his hit “Hustlin.'” He has had dozens of songs on the Billboard Hot 100 over his two-decades-long career.

He grew up in Carol City, and spoke to NBC6 in 2022 about his rise to fame.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.