Rick Ross Arrested in Miami Beach on Domestic Violence Charges

Rick Ross was arrested Thursday morning in Miami Beach on domestic violence charges, including a felony count of battery by strangulation.

The rapper, born William Roberts II, voluntarily surrendered at Miami Beach Police headquarters and was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, the Sun Sentinel reports. Police charged him with one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor count of battery. A judge set his bond at $6,000.

The arrest stems from an August 28 incident at Ross' Star Island home. According to police, an unnamed woman who identified herself as Ross' live-in girlfriend of more than a year told officers that an argument escalated until Ross slapped her, "restricted her breathing by twisting the collar of her hoodie," and slammed her against a wall. The police report says the altercation resulted in injuries.

Ross' lawyer, Bradley Horenstein, defended his client in a statement to CBS News Miami on Thursday.

"All I can say is that the allegations are false. He's innocent. Everything is going to come out," Horenstein said. "We just ask that you allow the process to play out before rushing to judgment, because the truth will come in."

A representative for Ross did not respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment.

While the alleged victim remains unnamed in the police report, the case has drawn additional scrutiny because of Ross' ex-girlfriend, Jazzma Kendrick. Last week, Kendrick accused the rapper of physical abuse in a series of social media posts. The injuries she described — including a "busted lip" — match those of the victim in the Miami Beach police report.

"The day Rick busted my lip and the day I left," Kendrick wrote in a since-expired Instagram Story showing her injury. "I don't know a lot of things, but I do know that a man that puts his hands on me, is a man that never loved me and never will."

The charges carry serious legal weight. Battery by strangulation is a felony in Florida, and the felony count places Ross in a far more precarious legal position than a misdemeanor battery charge alone. His bond of $6,000 reflects the combined severity of the two counts.

Ross' voluntary surrender suggests a coordinated legal strategy. Rather than facing arrest at his home or elsewhere, the rapper arrived at police headquarters on his own terms, accompanied presumably by counsel, before processing into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County.

The timeline of the case is now fixed. The alleged incident occurred on August 28. Kendrick published her social media accusations last week. Ross surrendered Thursday. His arraignment is scheduled for October 22, when he will formally hear the charges against him and enter a plea.

The Star Island address at the center of the allegations is one of Miami's most exclusive enclaves, and the incident places the rapper's private life under public examination once again. For an artist whose public persona has long traded on his Miami roots and lavish lifestyle, the charges represent a stark collision between image and accusation.

Horenstein's statement signals the defense's approach: contest the allegations outright and frame any early judgment as premature. "We just ask that you allow the process to play out before rushing to judgment, because the truth will come in," he told CBS News Miami.

The overlap between Kendrick's public accusations and the details in the police report adds a layer of complexity to the case. The alleged victim in the criminal matter is unnamed, but the matching injuries described in both accounts invite scrutiny of whether the two matters are connected. Prosecutors will determine how, or whether, that overlap figures into the October proceedings.

Ross, one of the most commercially successful rappers of his generation, now faces the prospect of a felony proceeding in a case that began with a private argument and became a criminal matter within weeks. The October 22 arraignment will mark the first formal courtroom step in what could become an extended legal battle.