Rick Ross charged with felony battery by strangulation in Miami Beach

Rapper Rick Ross was arrested in Miami Beach early Thursday and charged with one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor count of battery, both listed in Miami-Dade County jail records as involving domestic violence. He surrendered voluntarily at Miami Beach Police headquarters and was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at 6:10 a.m.

Ross, 50, whose legal name is William Leonard Roberts, filed a written plea of not guilty through his attorney and demanded a jury trial, according to Miami-Dade County court records. Bond was set at $5,000 in all. He posted it and was released late Thursday morning. His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 22.

The charges stem from an incident police say took place Aug. 28 at Ross's home on Star Island. A woman who told officers she had been in a relationship with Roberts for about a year and was living with him at the time reported it to the Miami Beach Police Department on Tuesday, Sept. 29, according to an arrest affidavit described by CBS12. She is not named in the police report.

What the arrest affidavit describes

The woman said Roberts woke her that morning and was angry because she had been tagged in an Instagram photo, the affidavit says. He questioned her about lying to him, then slapped her in the face. She told police he accused her of being in a relationship with another person and slapped her again each time she denied any wrongdoing, WSVN reported.

According to the affidavit, Roberts struck the woman in the chest several times and choked her by grabbing and twisting the collar of the hoodie she was wearing, making it difficult for her to breathe.

The woman also said Roberts grabbed her ponytail, slammed her into a wall and struck her in the face, leaving her with a busted lip. He then turned on the shower and tried to spray her with the shower head, according to the report. She told investigators she gathered her belongings and left the residence.

Miami Beach police held a news conference Thursday morning. Department spokesperson Christopher Bess said the victim described a verbal dispute that escalated into a physical one. "The victim was wearing a hoodie, at which point in time, the offender grabbed that hoodie, and according to the victim, she began to lose her breath at that time," Bess said. He added that the case has to go through the judicial process and that Ross is innocent until proven guilty.

In court before Judge Mindy Glazer

Roberts appeared Thursday morning before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer alongside defense attorney Bradley Horenstein, who submitted the not guilty plea on his behalf. The judge ordered him to stay away from the victim. Roberts and Horenstein also demanded a jury trial, court records show.

Horenstein asked the judge to speed his client's release. "Mr. Roberts is a celebrity. I don't know to whatever degree Your Honor can, but I'd ask that his release be expedited," he said, adding that Roberts was in a red jumpsuit for purposes of his safety.

"Hi Mr. Roberts. I have no idea who you are, except as somebody here in the court who's going to be treated fairly, just like everybody here," Glazer said.

Bond totaled $5,000, CBS News Miami reported.

What the charge carries under Florida law

Battery by strangulation under Florida law means intentionally blocking someone's normal breathing or blood flow by putting pressure on the throat or neck, or by covering the nose or mouth. The charge applies when the alleged victim is a family member, a household member or someone the accused is dating. It is a third degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

• Felony battery by strangulation, a third degree felony
• Misdemeanor battery
• Booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at 6:10 a.m.
• Incident alleged Aug. 28, reported to police Sept. 29
• Written not guilty plea filed, jury trial demanded
• Arraignment scheduled for Oct. 22

An attorney for Ross said in a statement that the rapper is being wrongfully accused by an ex-girlfriend whose true motivations are unclear. "The ex did not even file a police report until a month after the claimed incident allegedly took place," defense attorney Steve Sadow said. Sadow said Roberts is innocent, has pleaded not guilty and asks that his friends, fans and the general public not prejudge the situation and allow the judicial process to run its course.

"All I can say is that the allegations are false. He's innocent. Everything is going to come out," Horenstein told CBS News Miami on Thursday. He asked that people allow the process to play out before rushing to judgment, saying the truth will come in. A representative for Ross did not respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone.

A promoter's lawsuit filed days earlier

A separate civil case landed in the same week. A concert promoter sued Ross for $261,000, claiming he skipped the final two North Carolina dates of his Port of Miami 20th Anniversary tour in August, Courthouse News reported. That claim is a civil matter, separate from the criminal case in Miami Beach.

Arrest follows Instagram posts by Jazzma Kendrick

Jazzma Kendrick, Ross's former girlfriend, a model and realtor, publicly accused the rapper of abuse days before his arrest on the felony strangulation count. Over the weekend of September 26, she posted photos of a swollen, bruised lip to her Instagram Stories. "The day Rick busted my lip and the day I left," she wrote on one of them.

Replying to a follower who complimented her, Kendrick wrote, "He saw a punching bag." She later said the incident happened about a month before she went public and told supporters she was okay and healing. "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 wrote in a since-expired Instagram Story.

Authorities have not confirmed that Kendrick's allegations and Thursday's arrest are connected. The woman who went to police is unnamed in the report. Rolling Stone reported that the injuries Kendrick described, including a busted lip, match those of the victim in the Miami Beach police report. 50 Cent, who has feuded with Ross for years, responded to Kendrick's posts by writing that he would normally laugh at Ross, but that domestic violence is not a joke.

Ross speaks outside the jail

WSVN cameras captured Ross, 50, speaking with reporters outside the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade early Thursday afternoon, hours after he was booked there. He had bonded out of jail, and he denied beating or choking the woman, saying the allegations against him were fabricated.

Asked by a journalist whether the woman was making it up, one of his attorneys replied that she was. "Of course it's totally fabricated, my brother," Ross said. He told reporters he had an amazing team and gestured to one of his attorneys.

Ross then described his weekend plans: Dubai on Friday, Paris on Saturday and a bowl of rigatoni with heavy marinara on Sunday. He thanked the reporters for their time, got into a Rolls-Royce and left.

I'm totally innocent of these fabricated allegations made against me. I repeat, I'm totally innocent of these fabricated allegations made against me.

Ross gained prominence in 2006 with his debut single "Hustlin'," which the Recording Industry Association of America certified platinum twice and which set off a bidding war. He signed with Def Jam Records, then headed by Jay-Z. His debut album, "Port of Miami," went platinum and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the first in a series of chart-toppers that included 2008's "Trilla" and 2009's "Deeper Than Rap." He has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards.

He founded Maybach Music Group in 2008, boosting the careers of signees including Wale, Meek Mill and French Montana. His most recent album, "Set In Stone," was released in July. Ross, a longtime South Florida resident who grew up in Carol City, is due back in court on Oct. 22. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-7233.