CHRIS BROWN: ILLUMINATi SET-UP or UNSTABLE DRUG ADDICT??
Chris Brown and the Los Angeles Police Department spent much of Tuesday locked in a surreal standoff at theR&B performer"s Tarzana homeover allegations that he threatened a woman with a gun.
The woman said Brown pointed the gun at her and she fled in fear, then balked at signing a nondisclosure agreement before escaping from the singers property.
For hours, LAPD officers along with an army of reporters stood outside the house asBrown refusedto let them in. During theimpasse, the 27-year-oldposted a series of videos on social media in which he railed against the police and said he was being unfairly demonized.
This latest peculiarchapter in L.A.sannals of celebrity justice ended late in the afternoon when Brown was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released around 11:15 p.m. after posting $250,000 bail, according to Los Angeles County jail records.
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The incident began early Tuesday when the LAPD received a 911 call about a woman claiming she had been threatened by the performer, police said. Officers arrived about 3 a.m. at the estate in the 5000 block of Corbin Avenue.
The woman, Baylee Curran,told The Times thatBrownpointed a gun at her during a violent ragebefore she ran outside.Curran said she and a friend went to Browns home with a business associate, who was invited by the musician. She wanted to talk to Brown about future projects, she said.
Inside the home, a fewpeople were milling about and talking, she recounted. She eventuallywent to Browns backyardto get some fresh air. Her confrontation with the musician erupted soon after she walked back into the house, she said.
A man was showcasing diamond bracelets, necklaces and watches inside the home, and Curran said she was admiring the jewelry.
I dont know if it was Chris friend or how he was related, but thats when he told me to back away from the diamond necklace and started cussing me out and calling me names, she said. Thats when Chris pulled his gun and told me to Get out,he said. Im sick of you girls, get the ...out!
Curran said she fled outside with a friend, but they were forced to wait by the homes gate until Browns associates retrieved her phone which she had to hand over as a condition of entering the residence, she said. One of Browns associates walked over with the phone but said hed return it only if she signed a nondisclosure agreement, she said.
Curran said she refused, snatched her phone from the mans hand and ran away. The man ran to a Jeep to give chase, but Curran and her friend escaped to a neighbors property and hid under an SUV when the Jeep drove by, she said. The neighbor contacted police.
When officers arrived, they were instructed to obtain a search warrant, police sources said. As detectives waited for the warrant, Brown shared videos on his Instagram account, praising his own talents as both a performer and father,and criticizing the media for portraying him as a villain.
In thevideos, he said he woke up to helicopters overhead and officersat his gate, and maintained that he was not guilty of the accusations.
Good luck. When you get the warrant or whatever you need to do, youre going towalk right up in here and youre going tosee nothing, you idiots, he said in one video, occasionally taking a drag of a cigarette. Im tired of ... dealing with yall.
Detectives eventually entered the residence shortly before 1 p.m. and at least half a dozen peopleexited the home, a few of them holding their hands behind their heads as police patted them down.
Were getting the cooperation of everyone that came out, said Lt. ChrisRamirez, an LAPD spokesman.
Mark Geragos, Browns longtime attorney,told The Times that during the search of the home, he waswith the singer, who denies any wrongdoing.Brownis scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Sept. 20, according to jail records. He has not been formally charged. It is common for prosecutors to announce a decision on whether to file charges close to the date of arraignment.
The results of the search, as well as other witness testimony, will weigh heavily in the prosecutions decision to charge Brown, experts say.
At the end of the day it is a he-said she-said scenario, said Dmitry Gorin, adefense attorney and a former s*x crimes prosecutor in Los Angeles. The prosecution must find other witnesses, surveillance footage, the firearm in question, to corroborate what happened to ever be able to prove this case in front of a jury."
Its unclear what police recovered from the property. A law enforcement source confirmed that officers found a duffel bag that had apparently been tossed from a window. The bag contained evidence related to the case, the source said.
Previous incidents at the residence includea home-invasion robbery and multiple complaints aboutBrownand his friends riding all-terrain vehicles up and down the street.
Brown, a native of Virginia, rose to fame as a teenage heartthrob but became one of R&Bs more notorious bad boys following the 2009 attack on his then-girlfriend Rihanna. He spent six years on probation after pleading guilty to the attack, and his probation was lifted in March 2015.
The singer completed about 1,000 hours of community service. He was also ordered to attend anti-domestic-violence classes.
In recent years, he has also faced charges in connection with driving without a license and accusations of a hitand run. He admitted in May 2014 to violating his probation after assaulting a person outside a Washington, D.C., hotel.
Browns former manager, Michael Guirguis, known as Mike G, filed a lawsuit in June that alleged the singer attacked him. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, contends the singer punched Guirguis four times in the face and neck during a May 10 incident.
The complaint states:The assault was unprovoked and, regrettably, just another attack in Browns long history of violent and abusive behavior.
Staff writer Brittny Mejiacontributed to this report.
joseph.serna@latimes.com
Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-chris-brown-gun-20160830-snap-story.html
