Chris Brown cannot avoid trouble.
Following a bizarre, hours-long standoff with police, the No Air and Kiss Kiss singer was on Tuesday afternoon arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after a woman called for help from a gathering at his home.
The arrest, which occurred outside the view of several news helicopters that swirled overhead and throngs of camera crews gathered at the bottom of Brown’s hilltop estate, marked the conclusion of a nearly 14-hour standoff and investigation by police.
Los Angeles police spokesman Lieutenant Chris Ramirez said officers first responded to Brown’s property in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles at about 3am, but he did not identify the woman, elaborate on the assistance she needed or know if she was injured.
However, model Baylee Curran told the Los Angeles Times that Brown pointed a gun at her face.
She said Brown and another man became angry with her when she admired the man’s diamond necklace.
Curran said she and her friend ran outside as one of Brown’s associates gave chase and hid under a neighbor’s sport utility vehicle.
The model, who has not responded to requests for comment from reporters, also told TMZ she has visited Brown’s home in the past and never encountered any trouble.
Brown on Tuesday morning posted rambling messages on social media proclaiming his innocence and rebuffing reports that he barricaded himself in his “palace.”
“Y’all gonna stop playing with me like I’m the villain out here, like I’m going crazy,” he said in one Instagram video, waving a cigarette and looking at the camera. “When you get the warrant or whatever you need to do, you’re going to walk right up in here and you’re going to see nothing. You idiots.”
Apparently, the police saw something.
Brown’s attorney, Mark Geragos, arrived at the house before police served a search warrant at about 1pm.
Geragos, who has not responded to reporters’ requests for comment, stayed on the property until about 5pm, when Brown was transported for booking downtown.
The standoff and subsequent media attention provided a chaotic scene in the balmy and typically quiet neighborhood of Tarzana as police closed off nearby streets and rerouted traffic.
Throughout the afternoon, several of Brown’s associates descended to the street below Brown’s estate.
They declined to identify themselves or answer questions from the media about what occurred. In some instances, the men were belligerent, flashing obscene hand gestures and grabbing recording equipment.
The incident is the latest in a series of missteps for Brown, who has been in repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, ahead of the Grammys.
Last year, he completed his probation in that case.
In 2013, Brown struck a man outside a Washington hotel and was charged with misdemeanor assault. The singer was ordered into rehabilitation, but was dismissed from the facility for violating its rules.
Brown spent more than two months in custody, with US marshals shuttling him between Los Angeles and the nation’s capital for court hearings.
In another incident while in treatment, Brown was accused of throwing a brick at his mother’s car following a counseling session. It came after Brown completed court-ordered anger management classes.
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