MIAMI BEACH, FL — Grammy-nominated rapper Rick Ross, who rose to fame with the hit "Hustlin'" in 2006, was arrested Thursday in Miami Beach on a felony charge of battery by strangulation and a misdemeanor battery charge following an alleged domestic violence incident at his Star Island home, according to multiple reports.
Ross, whose legal name is William Leonard Roberts II, 50, surrendered to Miami Beach police detectives Thursday morning and was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at 6:10 a.m., CBS Miami reported.
The arrest came days after his now ex-girlfriend, Jazzma Kendrick, accused him of physical abuse in a social media post, People said. In a series of Sept. 26 Instagram stories, she posted that Ross saw her as "a punching bag" and once "busted" her lip.
The Miami Beach police arrest report for Ross only identified the victim by the initials J.K., Local 10 News reported.
She claimed that the rapper slapped her in the face after becoming enraged that she had been tagged in a photo on Instagram, accusing her of cheating on him, WSVN said.
The victim also accused Ross of hitting her in the chest, striking her in the face, slamming her into a wall, and choking her by grabbing and twisting the collar of her hoodie to the point where she couldn't breathe, reports said.
The woman provided detectives with a sworn statement and timestamped photographs of her injuries, reports said. Investigators also reviewed surveillance footage from the home.
Ross surrendered himself at the Miami Beach police station on Thursday.
He later pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his attorney, Bradley Horenstein, denied the allegations.
"All I can say is that the allegations are false. He's innocent. Everything is going to come out," Horenstein said, according to reports. "We just ask that you allow the process to play out before rushing to judgment, because the truth will come in."
Ross appeared in Miami-Dade bond court via Zoom on Thursday morning, where a judge found probable cause in the case. His bond was set at $4,000 on the felony charge and $1,000 on the misdemeanor charge, CBS Miami reported.
The judge also issued a stay-away order prohibiting Ross from contacting the alleged victim directly or indirectly and ordered him to surrender any firearms.
Ross bonded out late Thursday morning. His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 22.
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