Nelly arrested on active warrant; ecstasy pills found during search, police say

ST. LOUIS — Missouri State Police arrested the rapper Nelly at Hollywood Casino in St. Charles, Missouri, early Wednesday morning.

TMZ was the first to report the arrest, saying that Nelly, whose birth name is Cornell Haynes II, was asked to show ID and his information was run through the state’s computer system for verification and in accordance with state gaming regulation.

That’s when it was found that Nelly had an active warrant for failure to appear on a charge of not having insurance during a traffic stop by Maryland Heights (Missouri) Police. The charge stems from a 2018 case, CNN reported.

During his arrest on the warrant, police searched him and said they found four ecstasy pills. An online arrest report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol said that Nelly faces charges of possession of a controlled substance. KTVI reported that the charge was submitted to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

He was released by state police at the Maryland Heights Police Department, NBC News reported.

Nelly’s attorney said that his client was not charged with drug possession, but that “He was arrested for ‘No Proof of Insurance’ from 2018 on a warrant issued December 2023 that he received no notice.”

Attorney Scott Rosenblum said Nelly was “targeted by an overzealous, out of line officer” who said that a background check was needed after winning a certain amount at the casino. Rosenblum said that similar checks were not done when his client had won “similar or greater amounts” at the same casino before.

Rosenblum said Nelly was “parade[d] through the casino” and that the officer “conducted a search without probable cause where he claimed to have found alleged ‘ecstasy.’”

The attorney said Nelly frequently goes through checks, including by the FBI to prove there are no warrants before traveling internationally and those checks have not returned any, NBC News reported.

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