Chris Brown: ‘I gotta clear my name’ after hit-and-run charges
Singer Chris Brown admits he has made mistakes but took issue with the Los Angeles city attorney’s decision to charge him for a hit-and-run and driving without a valid license.
“I’ve made mistakes in the past and have worked hard to be a better person,” he said Tuesday evening on Twitter.
On May 21, Brown rear-ended another vehicle with his Range Rover and failed to exchange information with the other driver, said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.
Prosecutors say the singer did not produce a driver’s license at the crash scene because he did not have a valid license at the time, and he left the scene without providing proof of insurance for his vehicle.
DOCUMENT: Read the complaint filed against Chris Brown
Brown strongly defended himself and accused the driver involved in the incident of looking for a “payday from Chris Brown.”
“It’s not a hit and run if u get out the car, exchange information (who has NO DAMAGE to either cars).This is really ridiculous,” Brown said on Twitter, where he has almost 13 million followers.
“I have a valid drivers license and I gave the woman the right info. She saw cameras and wanted to make a scene.”
Brown posted a picture of the car he allegedly hit, which shows no apparent damage.
“Just a dirty car,” Brown tweeted. “Once again, I gotta clear my name.”
“I don’t have all the answers and you can’t show me a person that age who has it figured out. We live and grow. Let me live,” he tweeted.
He ended his Twitter diatribe by pointing to a Bible verse, 2 Corinthians 12:10. It says: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
If convicted, Brown faces up to six months in jail.
The singer is already on probation after being convicted of domestic violence for striking singer Rihanna. A judge in the case could determine the hit-and-run charge amounts to a violation of his probation and seek to sentence him to jail or prison.
ALSO:
LAPD scales back ambush manhunt; fourth detainee released
Moby to play at Garcetti inauguration Sunday night at City Hall
Man accused of killing neighbor who complained about fireworks
Twitter: @lacrimes
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.