Police arrested rapper Nelly at a Missouri casino. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Background check

American rapper Nelly was caught up in a bizarre situation after winning a jackpot while gambling at a casino in his home state of Missouri. He was playing at the Hollywood Casino in St. Louis in the early hours of Wednesday morning when he hit it big.

told him that he had to provide a background check to receive the funds

After Nelly tried to claim the jackpot, a trooper from the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s gaming division told him that he had to provide a background check to receive the funds. The 49-year-old’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, explained to Page Six that his client had previously won even bigger sums from jackpots at that casino, including one week before this incident, and never had to comply with such a request or had any issues getting his winnings.

Police still went ahead and carried out a background check, which flagged an active warrant for not having proof of insurance on his vehicle when Maryland Heights Police stopped him in 2018. The officer proceeded to arrest the rapper at 4:45am and march him through the gaming floor in front of fellow patrons.

A strange matter

Rosenblum claims the officer later searched Nelly, real name Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., without probable cause and found four ecstasy tablets in his possession.

police only issued that warrant in December despite the traffic stop happening back in June 2018

In regard to the proof of insurance issue, the attorney claimed police only issued the warrant in December despite the traffic stop happening back in June 2018. The typical procedure in such a case is for the officer to tell the person about the warrant and then have them deal with it themselves rather than putting them under arrest, but Nelly was supposedly not informed.

He also noted that the music star regularly provides proof of no warrants and FBI checks to travel internationally and no such red flags appeared.

Fighting the charges

Nelly was brought into custody for not showing proof of vehicle insurance and also booked for felony drug possession. Rosenblum believes the case has zero merit and will be requesting an inquiry into the actions of the “overzealous” arresting officer. Nelly was later released by police.

Nelly has won three Grammys during his career and had four number-one hits, including songs like “Just A Dream” and “Hot in Here.”

This is not the first time that Nelly has had issues at a casino. He got into an argument with another person at his poker table when playing at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut in February 2020. A video of the incident did the rounds, with Nelly turning on the pit boss when he tried de-escalating the situation.