The musician Nelly, famous for such hits as “Air Force Ones” and “Hot In Herre,” will not be charged following an arrest in a St. Louis casino in August, the prosecutor said Tuesday.
“‘We don’t believe the facts in this case warrant the issuing of charges,” Chris King, a spokesperson for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said in a statement.
Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes II, was arrested on Aug. 7 on an outstanding warrant for no proof of insurance, and it was alleged by state police that he had four “ecstasy pills,” according to a state police report and Nelly’s lawyer.
The police department in Maryland Heights, a suburb of St. Louis, said at the time that it arrested the rapper an on a failure to appear on an old traffic charge after state police transported the musician to the department.
Nelly’s lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, said at the time that Nelly was not notified by the warrant.
Rosenblum said Nelly was “targeted by an overzealous, out-of-line officer” who checked for warrants after the rapper won money at the casino.
Nelly was born in Texas but moved to St. Louis as a child and was raised there.
