Skip to main content

Kidnapping, Aggravated Battery: Rick Ross Arrested ... Again

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on June 24, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

For the second time this month, Rick Ross has been arrested. This time, he won't be getting out -- at least not for a while.

Ross and his bodyguard were arrested today and charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and kidnapping.

What happened?

The Rick Ross Arrests

Earlier this month Ross (real name William Leonard Roberts II), and his bodyguard, Nadrian James, allegedly pistol-whipped a household employee during a fight.

According to police, on June 7, Ross and James forced one of Ross' employees into his guest house where he was held in a bedroom for several hours. During that time, Ross supposedly beat the victim with a handgun severely enough to chip two teeth and cause a neck and jaw injury and numerous scratches and bruises.

While Ross was reportedly arrested in Georgia without incident, the Fayette County Sheriff's department had to ask the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force for help. Ross is currently being held without bond.

This is actually Ross' second arrest this month. On June 10, he was pulled over by police for overly tinted windows and arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Was This Kidnapping?

When Ross held the guest in his bedroom for several hours, was this really kidnapping or was it false imprisonment? These are two distinct crimes.

False imprisonment is the lesser of the two crimes. Under Georgia law, "a person commits the offense of false imprisonment when, in violation of the personal liberty of another, he arrests, confines or detains such person without legal authority." Alternatively, kidnapping occurs when a "person abducts or steals away another person without lawful authority ... and holds such other person against his or her will."

In simpler terms, false imprisonment occurs when you stop people from leaving against their will. Kidnapping occurs when you take people from one place to another against their will. Taking someone as little as a few feet can be considered kidnapping.

In this case, Ross allegedly forced the victim into his guest house, so kidnapping occurred. If the victim had already been inside the guest house, and Ross stopped him from leaving, it would have been false imprisonment instead.

The punishment for false imprisonment is only a minimum of one year and maximum of 10 years in prison. If convicted of kidnapping, Ross faces at least 10 years and as many as 20 years in prison.

Follow FindLaw for Consumers on Facebook and Twitter (@FindLawConsumer).

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard