CYPRESS, Texas – Houston rapper Warren Brown, known as NFL Cartel Bo, is facing an aggravated kidnapping charge after a welfare check at a northwest Harris County home led deputies to evidence that a woman had been held captive and later escaped, court records and law-enforcement officials said.
Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said deputies responded Sunday to the 15000 block of Darby Retreat Lane after receiving a request for a welfare check. When deputies arrived, they found evidence indicating someone had been held captive inside the home and had escaped. Investigators later located the woman nearby and took her to a hospital for treatment, Herman said.
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According to charging documents, Brown abducted the woman on July 21 and held her in a locked closet. The documents allege Brown sexually assaulted the woman, checked on her hourly and refused to let her leave. After Brown left the Cypress home, he was pulled over and arrested July 25 on a charge of aggravated assault of a family member, records show.
Previous family violence charge
Brown was already being held in the Harris County Jail on family-violence-related charges involving the same woman, with whom he shares a child. Court records show he has also been charged with a felony assault of a family or household member in a separate incident involving the same woman.
That earlier incident allegedly occurred June 23 in the parking lot of a business in the 1100 block of West Road. Charging documents say the woman had arranged for an Uber after meeting Brown to pick up their 1-year-old son. The Uber driver told investigators he saw the woman running away from Brown while carrying the child’s car seat.
He said Brown grabbed and attacked her, and that he intervened and was punched multiple times in the face and body. The driver reported Brown threatened to kill him. Brown was charged with misdemeanor assault causing bodily injury in that case.
Houston rapper’s long criminal history
Brown has a lengthy criminal history in Harris County. Court records list prior convictions for assault, burglary, terroristic threat, driving without a license and failure to identify. In 2018, Brown was arrested after appearing in a viral rap video filmed at a park next to Hillard Elementary School in Houston.
The video included about two dozen alleged members of the 52 Hoover Gangsta Crips as extras, some of whom waved loaded guns.
Police said about a dozen loaded guns, some reportedly stolen, were used as props and that the extras were documented street-gang members and rappers.
When officers arrived at the park, most people fled, leaving weapons behind.
After the video went viral on YouTube, police used it to identify and charge 20 cast members with gun violations, including Brown. Brown later faced federal charges in that case; state prosecutors dismissed their charges after federal authorities became involved.
As of Tuesday, Brown appeared in court but the hearing was reset. Prosecutors have asked to hold him without bond pending trial; his bond has been denied, records show. A new hearing is scheduled for Monday, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.