Chris Brown taken into custody after alleged gun incident

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MSN

After a bizarre, hourslong standoff, L.A. police officers took Chris Brown into custody late Tuesday afternoon and said the singer would be arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Lt. Chris Ramirez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, said officers were transporting Brown from his Tarzana home to downtown L.A., where he would be formally booked.

Police began searching Brown’s sprawling property as they hunted for a weapon the performer is said to have used to threaten a woman.

Shortly before 1 p.m., officers entered the residence after taking much of the morning to obtain a search warrant. Brown’s attorney, Mark Geragos, was on the scene as LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division detectives searched the property.

At least half a dozen people exited the home, a few of them holding their hands behind their heads as police patted them down.

“We’re getting the cooperation of everyone that came out,” Ramirez said, after informing reporters that officers had served a search warrant.

Once all of the occupants are removed from the residence, they will be interviewed to determine what occurred, Ramirez said.

Geragos told the Los Angeles Times that he was inside the home with Brown, who denies any wrongdoing. The warrant was served shortly after Geragos arrived.

Deputy Chief Bob Green had described the standoff between Brown and officers as “long and protracted.”

The search was sparked by a call for help from a woman who said she had been threatened by the performer, police sources said, with officers first arriving at Brown’s home on Corbin Avenue about 3 a.m. Tuesday.

The woman, Baylee Curran, told the Times that Brown, who has had several previous run-ins with the law, pointed a gun at her during a violent rage before she ran outside to call police.

Curran said she and a friend had gone to Brown’s home with a business associate, who was invited by the musician. She wanted to talk to Brown about future projects, she said.

When she went inside, a handful of people were milling about and chatting, Curran said.

Curran said she eventually went to Brown’s backyard to get some fresh air. Her confrontation with the musician erupted soon after she walked back into the house, she said.

A man was showcasing diamond bracelets, necklaces and watches inside the home, she said. Curran said she began to admire a diamond cross necklace.

“I don’t know if it was Chris’ friend or how he was related, but that’s when he told me to back away from the diamond necklace and started cussing me out and calling me names,” she said. “That’s when Chris pulled his gun and told me to ‘Get out.’ He said ‘I’m sick of you girls, get the F out!’”

Curran said she ran outside with her friend when Brown pointed the gun at her face. But she was forced to wait by the home’s front gate until Brown’s associates retrieved her phone — which she had to hand over as a condition of going inside the home, she said. When an associate arrived with Curran’s phone, he said he’d only give it back to her if she signed a nondisclosure agreement, she said.

Curran said she refused, snatched her phone from the man’s hand and ran away. The man ran to a Jeep to give chase, but Curran and her friend made it to a neighbor’s property and hid under an SUV parked outside when the Jeep drove by, Curran said. Brown’s neighbor called police.

On Tuesday, officers attempted to enter the home and were told to get a search warrant, the police sources said. Detectives then waited for a warrant to search Brown’s home for the weapon.

Meanwhile, Brown took to his Instagram account Tuesday morning, sharing videos in which he railed against the police and media and said he was being unfairly portrayed as a villain.

In the videos, he said he woke up to helicopters overhead and officers at his gate, and maintained that he was not guilty of the accusations.

“Good luck. When you get the warrant or whatever you need to do, you’re going to walk right up in here and you’re going to see nothing, you idiots,” he said in one video. “I’m tired of … dealing with y’all.”

Because of the high-profile nature of the case, the investigation is being handled by the Robbery-Homicide Division.

Prior incidents at the residence include a home-invasion robbery and multiple complaints about Brown and his friends riding all-terrain vehicles loudly up and down the street.

Brown spent six years on probation after pleading guilty to attacking his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. His probation was lifted in March 2015.

The Grammy Award-winning singer completed about 1,000 hours of community service. He was also ordered to attend anti-domestic-violence classes.

Brown also faced charges in connection with driving without a license and accusations of a hit-and-run. In May 2014, he admitted to violating his probation after committing an assault outside a Washington hotel.

More recently, in June, Brown’s former manager, Michael Guirguis, known as “Mike G,” filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging the singer attacked him.

Brown punched Guirguis four times in the face and neck in an incident May 10, according to the complaint.

“The assault was unprovoked and, regrettably, just another attack in Brown’s long history of violent and abusive behavior,” the complaint states.

“Clearly, thus far, such extreme consequences, such as the loss of his career, court-mandated rehabilitation, and even jail time, have not deterred Brown’s conduct,” the complaint states. “Perhaps, this time, the imposition of punitive damages for his despicable and unforgivable conduct will.”

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(Staff writers Joseph Serna and Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.)