Maryland Heights police release dashboard footage from Nelly's arrest (2024)

Maryland Heights police released dashboard camera video this week showing St. Louis rapper Nelly’s arrest but said there is no body-cam footage because the officer’s camera battery ran out.

The dashboard footage from Aug. 7 essentially shows an otherwise uneventful ride in a Maryland Heights police car after Nelly was arrested at Hollywood Casino & Hotel St. Louis. Police said he had an outstanding warrant for a previous charge of not having proof of vehicle insurance.

Nelly, whose birth name is Cornell Haynes II, appears only briefly on video, in handcuffs, as officers escort him to a patrol car at 5:13 a.m. in the casino parking lot. Then Nelly is heard, from the backseat, asking the officer where his masks are because he is trying to avoid getting sick.

On the ride from the casino to the police station, there is some other chatter, including when the officer radios ahead to make sure another officer will be at the station to help him count the “large amount” of cash Nelly had.

As the patrol car speeds up to get onto Interstate 70, “Feel Good Inc.” by Gorillaz can be heard playing in the squad car. The song, alternative pop, has lyrics like, “So while you fill the streets, it’s appealing to see, You won’t get out the county, ‘cause you’re bad and free.”

Police said that song was coming from the officer’s car radio and not from anything Nelly had in the back seat.

Maryland Heights released the video in response to a Sunshine Law request from the Post-Dispatch. Maryland Heights Deputy City Clerk Emery Ransom said there is no body-worn camera footage available.

The officer had worked a long shift that day — about 11 hours, Ransom said. “His battery was dead,” Ransom said.

The car’s dashboard camera though was recording. The first 20 minutes or so is the car idling in the parking lot, waiting for Nelly to come out with the officers. The next 10 to 12 minutes is the car ride to the station. Nelly asked the officer about his masks, and the officer said, “I think I put them all in your bag.”

Nelly said he is trying not to be sick because he has a lot of work to do. The officer said he would close the partition.

“I appreciate that,” Nelly said. “It’s not you, man.”

The officer tells Nelly that he isn’t sick.

“I’m just worried out here, period,” Nelly replied.

The rapper had won several jackpots before the arrest, his attorney Scott Rosenblum said. The Missouri Highway Patrol officer overseeing the payout ran his name for warrants, Rosenblum said.

“Mr. Haynes was targeted by an overzealous, out of line officer,” Rosenblum wrote in his statement after Nelly’s arrest. “After winning several jackpots, at a venue where Mr. Haynes frequently visits and entertains at its amphitheater; instead of just supervising the transfer of Mr. Haynes’ winnings, this officer felt compelled to needlessly run a check for warrants.”

Nelly had a warrant for a charge of not having proof of vehicle insurance, according to the Maryland Heights Police Department. He was charged with driving without insurance in June 2018, according to online court records.

The only other entry in the case is a Dec. 14, 2023, declaring the case in “warrant status.”

While arresting him on that warrant, officers said they searched him and found what they believed were four pills of ecstasy, an illegal drug. Rosenblum said they handcuffed him and “paraded” the rapper through the casino in front of other patrons.

In Missouri, the troopers at the casino are assigned to the Highway Patrol’s Gaming Division. Nelly was then handed off to Maryland Heights police.

No video footage inside the casino was released. The Post-Dispatch has submitted a request with the Highway Patrol for any videos showing Nelly’s arrest.

Nelly, 49, grew up in the St. Louis area and got involved with the music scene in the 1990s. He later released hits like “Hot in Herre” and “Ride Wit Me.”

The rapper has had a few run-ins with the law. He was arrested in 2015 after authorities said they found marijuana on his tour bus in Tennessee. Nelly pleaded guilty to misdemeanor marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession, but that was later cleared from his criminal record after he completed a diversion program.

Namratha Prasad of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.