MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — The Maryland Heights Police Department released dash camera video following the arrest of St. Louis music star Nelly, but said it did not have body camera footage of the incident.
In response to a Sunshine Law request from 5 On Your Side, the Maryland Heights deputy city clerk provided the video Wednesday, but said no body camera video was available.
"The arrest was made at the end of a long shift in which the officer had worked with his body camera activated for approximately eleven hours," Deputy City Clerk Emery Ransom said in an email response to the video request. "The camera battery died prior to the arrest and as a result, there is no body camera footage of the arrest."
According to online arrest records that have since been removed, the 49-year-old was arrested Aug. 7 at Hollywood Casino on an outstanding failure to appear warrant from 2023. The online records said he was in possession of four ecstasy pills, a controlled substance and was without insurance.
About 25 minutes into the 35-minute video, the dash camera video shows Nelly, whose birth name is Cornell Haynes II, being taken out of the building with his hands cuffed in front of him. The timestamp in the corner of the video indicates he was taken out of the building at about 5:15 a.m.
Haynes gets into the police cruiser, and as the officer gets into the car, he says "We pick up every warrant, I think."
Once as the officer starts driving, Haynes asks the officer what he did with his masks. The officer said they’re in the bag, and Haynes said he has them because he has a lot to do and doesn't want to get sick. The officer then says he will close the barrier between them during the ride.
The officer then radios that he’s on his way to the Maryland Heights Police Department and places a call to say he’ll need a second officer to help count the large amount of money that he is bringing to the station.
5 On Your Side edited out the first 23 minutes of the dash camera video, which does not contain any activity.
In a statement last week, Haynes's lawyer Scott Rosenblum said Haynes had won several casino jackpots and when he sought to collect them Wednesday morning, the officer who would have supervised the transaction “needlessly” ran a search for warrants. Once the officer found the outstanding warrant, he cuffed Nelly's hands behind his back and “felt compelled” to “parade him through the casino in front of other customers," Rosenblum said.
His lawyer called what the officer found “alleged ‘ecstasy’” and said the officer did not have probable cause to justify searching him. He wasn't notified of the warrant and did not know about it, Rosenblum said.
Rosenblum said that in similar circumstances, “any other citizen would have been told to address it and allowed to go on their way.
Nelly, a three-time Grammy Award winner, is known for hits like “Hot in Herre” and “Just A Dream.” He’s had four No. 1 hits and received nine Billboard Music Awards. He recently wrapped up a series of performances with Janet Jackson as a special guest on her tour.
He won Grammy Awards in 2002 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Male Solo Rap Performance, and his “Nellyville” was nominated that year for both Best Rap Album and Album of the Year. He also won a Grammy the following year for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group the following year for “Shake Ya Tailfeather.”
Beyond his recording career, Nelly has appeared in a number of films and television series, including the sports film “The Longest Yard” and a BET reality series featuring his family. The artist announced in April he was engaged to singer and actor Ashanti and the pair is expecting a baby.
In April 2015, Nelly was arrested and faced felony drug charges in Tennessee after a bus he was traveling in was pulled over east of Nashville by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was able to have his record expunged after less than a year of probation.
Nelly was also arrested in October 2017 in Auburn, Washington, south of Seattle, after a woman alleged he had sexually assaulted her on his tour bus. Rosenblum said then that the allegations were fabricated. The woman sued Nelly, who countersued, and they settled their legal claims in September 2018.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.