UPDATE
Nov 13, 2024 2:05 PM CST
"We don't believe the facts in this case warrant the issuing of charges," a rep for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said Tuesday in announcing no charges would be brought against Cornell Haynes II, far better known as Nelly. The rapper was arrested at a St. Louis-area casino in August on an outstanding warrant for no proof of insurance as he tried to collect on his jackpots; state police alleged they then found four ecstasy pills on him. Nelly's lawyer said his client was never informed about the 2018 warrant and had been "targeted by an overzealous, out-of-line officer," per NBC News and TMZ.
Aug 8, 2024 2:30 AM CDT
Rapper Nelly was arrested early Wednesday as he tried to collect his winnings at a St. Louis-area casino, his attorney says. The 49-year-old was attempting to collect several jackpots he'd won at Hollywood Casino and Hotel in the suburb of Maryland Heights, Missouri, when an officer who was supervising the transaction ran a check for outstanding warrants against him. The officer found one from last year, issued by a judge after Nelly was cited in June 2018 for operating a vehicle without proper proof of insurance in Maryland Heights, the AP reports. He then cuffed the rapper's hands behind his back and "parade[d] him through the casino," the attorney says. The Missouri Highway Patrol says an officer found four illegal ecstasy pills on Nelly.
The rapper faces a failure to appear charge on the 2018 insurance citation, plus a new charge of possession of a controlled substance, CNN reports. Nelly's lawyer predicts the case will be dropped, noting there was no probable cause to justify the officer searching the rapper. The attorney also claims Nelly was never notified of the warrant for his arrest and had no knowledge of it. "I am 100% confident this case will go nowhere," he says. "And we will be asking for an inquiry into this officer's conduct."
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