Chris Brown Arrested in Malibu After Reportedly Getting Kicked out of Rehab

R&B singer Chris Brown was arrested today for allegedly violating his probation stemming from his 2009 assault of then- girlfriend Rihanna in Hancock Park.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said Brown, 24, was arrested around 2 p.m. in Malibu and is being held without bail in downtown Los Angeles.

Sheriff's officials did not specify the nature of Brown's alleged probation violation. The website TMZ reported that Brown was thrown out of a Malibu substance-abuse and anger-management facility where he has been for about the past four months for violating the facility's rules.

During a court hearing in early February, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin said that a probation officer's report had found that Brown was doing well in the court-ordered treatment program. Narcotics tests had all come back negative, according to the report, which noted Brown's "willingness to comply" with the conditions of his probation.

Brandlin ordered Brown to remain at the facility, but warned him that any negative change in behavior "could dramatically change your custodial status."

A prosecutor had asked at the February hearing that Brown be taken into custody due to recent violent outbreaks. The singer was arrested in Washington, D.C., last October for allegedly punching a 20-year-old man who was trying to get a photo with Brown.

It was not immediately clear when Brown would appear in court.

Brown pleaded guilty in June 2009 to assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury for assaulting Rihanna during an argument that began about 12:30 a.m. Feb. 8, 2009, while the singers were in a rented Lamborghini in Hancock Park after attending a pre-Grammy Awards party.

Brown was sentenced to five years probation, a yearlong domestic violence program -- which he completed -- and 180 days of community labor.

Brown's probation was first revoked last summer after he was charged with a pair of misdemeanors and an infraction stemming from a May 21 traffic crash in Toluca Lake. Those charges have since been dismissed, despite a city prosecutor's objection to a "civil compromise" in which attorneys said no money was exchanged between the parties.

His probation was then reinstated last August, when Brandlin ordered the singer to perform an additional 1,000 hours of community labor.

--City News Service