Los Angeles: Lil Nas X was charged with four felonies on Monday after police said he charged at them when they confronted him for walking naked down a Los Angeles street last week.
The musician, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, pleaded not guilty in a court appearance to three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer, the district attorney’s office said.
Lil Nas X is facing serious charges after being seen walking naked along a LA street late last week.
The charges were far more serious than initial reports that he was being investigated for a misdemeanour, and, with convictions, the counts could collectively bring a sentence of more than 10 years in prison for the singer and rapper whose Old Town Road was one of the biggest hit singles in history.
Police said officers found the 26-year-old walking naked on Ventura Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in the Studio City neighbourhood, shortly before 6am Friday (LA time). They say he charged at the officers when confronted and was arrested.
The criminal complaint filed in court Monday includes few details, but says that for each of the three officers, he “did unlawfully use force and violence and inflict an injury” on a person he “reasonably should have known” was a peace officer “engaged in the performance of a duty.”
Police, suspecting a possible overdose, took him to a hospital, where he spent several hours before being taken to jail. He has remained behind bars since.
Lil Nas X, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, is arraigned in court, next to his attorney Christy O’Connor, on four felony counts.Credit: AP
He was held on $US75,000 bail, conditional on attending drug treatment. It’s not immediately clear whether he had posted it and been released yet. A message to his attorneys was not immediately answered.
But one of them, Christy O’Connor, told a judge that Lil Nas X has led a “remarkable” life, which has included winning two Grammy awards.