WASHINGTON (AP) – Chris Brown’s misdemeanor assault charge in Washington, D.C., could further complicate the R&B singer’s unsettled legal situation.
Additional time behind bars remains a possibility for the singer – both in the District of Columbia and California – where Brown remains on probation for his 2009 beating of his on-again, off-again girlfriend Rihanna.
Brown emerged from a Washington court today flashing a peace sign after spending more than a day in custody on a charge filed after a man accused the Grammy winner and his bodyguard of punching him and breaking his nose outside a local hotel.
Brown’s arrest early Sunday comes at a crucial time for the singer, who is releasing an album this winter and is under a deadline to complete hundreds of hours of community service to satisfy his sentence for the Rihanna attack.
His day and a half in custody are the longest time the scandal-plagued singer has spent behind bars and the case represents the most serious accusations he’s faced since his attack on Rihanna. Brown left the courthouse to cheers from supporters, some of whom clapped when a judge announced he would be released.
Brown is accused of punching a man who tried to get a picture with the singer and two other people near Washington’s W Hotel early Sunday, according to the man’s account in a police report. The report states Parker Isaac Adams, 20, said Brown told him, “I’m not down with that gay s— “and “I feel like boxing”.
The exact context of Brown’s remarks was not immediately clear.
The man told police Brown punched him in the face, and a court filing states the man’s nose was fractured. Another man stepped between them and also punched the man before grabbing Brown by the arm and leading him toward his tour bus, according to the report.
In an interview with police, Brown denied hitting the man and said he was on his tour bus when a member of his security team, Chris Hollosy, got into a fight with Adams.
