Rapper Rick Ross accused of choking ex in Miami Beach domestic violence incident
Published in Entertainment News
MIAMI — Rapper and entrepreneur Rick Ross was arrested in Miami Beach Thursday morning, accused of choking a woman he was dating and slamming her against a wall inside his Star Island residence.
Ross, whose legal name is William Leonard Roberts, is facing a charge of battery by strangulation, according to court records. Ross, 50, was booked at 6:30 a.m. and was released from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center before noon, jail records show.
Dressed in a red jumpsuit reserved for high-profile inmates, Ross appeared in bond court. Judge Mindy Glazer set his bond at $5,000 and ordered him to stay away from the victim.
During the hearing, Ross’s defense attorney, Brad Horenstein, asked the judge to expedite his release due to security concerns over his celebrity status. Glazer, addressing Ross, said she had “no idea who you are, …but [you’re] going to be treated fairly just like everybody else here.”
Outside the courtroom, Horenstein said the “allegations are false. He’s innocent.... The truth will come out.”
Ross surrendered to Miami Beach detectives Thursday morning in connection to an Aug. 28 incident that occurred at his Star Island mansion. The victim, who was in a relationship with Ross for a year and lived with him, reported the incident a month later, on Sept. 29.
That day in August, the woman was awakened by Ross, who was enraged by a photo she was tagged in on Instagram, according to Ross’ arrest report. He slapped the woman and accused her of cheating on him, police say.
The woman denied the allegations, and Ross hit her in the chest several times, the report says, and choked her, restricting her breathing by twisting the collar of her hoodie.
Ross also grabbed the woman by her ponytail and slammed her against the wall, causing injuries to her face and lip, according to the report. Ross also pushed the woman to the floor, turned on the shower and tried to spray her with the shower head.
The woman was able to break free and rushed out of the home, not returning until Ross was gone to gather her belongings, according to the report.
In a statement, Miami Beach police said the victim provided detectives with a sworn statement and photographs of her injuries. They also reviewed surveillance footage from the residence, although it’s unclear if the incident was captured on video.
Last week, Ross’ former girlfriend publicly accused him on social media of abusing her during their relationship. The posts were no longer on her Instagram as of Thursday morning.
In one post, Ross’ ex said she left him after he injured her lip. She also told a commenter that Ross saw her as “a punching bag,” according to People.
“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,” she said in a post published in a People article.
Ross, who grew up in South Florida, is best known for his debut hit “Hustlin’” and songs “B.M.F. (Blowing Money Fast)” and “Aston Martin Music.”
———
(Miami Herald staff writer Milena Malaver contributed to this report.)
———
©2026 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.












Comments