Singer Chris Brown is allegedly in trouble with the law again. According to TMZ, the 27-year-old rapper punched a club photographer in Tampa, Florida. Bennie L. Vines claims Brown hit him in the face while he was taking crowd shots during an afterparty at AJA Channelside Club where he works as an in-house photographer. This incident happened around 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning.
It is not unusual for celebrities to be paid just to show up for certain events. That was the case with Chris Brown since he was performing at other places in Jacksonville, Florida.
However, he was not at the club to perform. He had been paid just to make an appearance and hung around for about an hour. However, one of the owners of the club, Robert Soloman, stated that the rapper was there for only 3-5 minutes. Brown allegedly punched the working photographer and left.
The artist's team had announced that there would be no photos taken of Brown. Vines claims he was not taking pictures of Brown. Instead, he was just doing his job and taking photos of the crowd.
Investigation
By the time the Tampa police arrived, Brown and his entourage had already left the club. The police are actively investigating the incident, according to what is posted on Twitter. What happened at the club is posted on AJA Channelside's Facebook page.
Officials at the club say Brown is under an active investigation for punching Vines in his mouth.
At the time, the 28-year-old photographer refused medical attention for a laceration to his lip. Now he says his injury is preventing him from working. He has consulted several lawyers about filing legal action against the singer.
The lawyers have advised Vines that he could have a strong case against Brown. The Tappahannock, Virginia native has not been arrested, but if he is charged, it will be a battery case. Neither Brown nor his attorneys have addressed this incident.
Run-ins with the law
This is not the first time Brown has had run-ins with the law.
The one that stands out the most is the assault on Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time in 2009. Brown pleaded guilty to the felony. He agreed to a plea deal of probation for five years, community labor, and domestic violence counseling. Since then, there have been numerous other incidents involving Brown's volatile temper.
In 2014, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault on a man on the street in Washington, D.C. Back in February of this year, he was accused of threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran and assaulting her several years ago.
What do you think will be the results of the latest investigation? Do you think the photographer has a strong case against Chris Brown?
