The alleged prostitute accused of mugging the hip-hop diva last weekend was let out of a New York City jail Thursday after the rapper refused to appear before a grand jury.
A spokesperson from the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said Roshawn Anthony, 23, was released from Riker's Island on her own recognizance because prosecutors were unable to secure an indictment. State law mandates that suspects be charged within 120 of being taken into custody.
Prosecutors had until Thursday at 5 p.m. to charge Anthony with robbery, assault, grand larceny, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with an alleged attack on the 27-year-old artist last Saturday.
Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, has since denied any smackdown took place.
Police and prosecutors, however, disagree. They say that Anthony and three other women ambushed Brown as she was getting into her Range Rover outside a Brooklyn housing project. Anthony purportedly struck Brown in the head with an unknown object, then snatched a Louis Vuitton purse, $500 in cash, credit cards and the hearing aid the rapper has require since 2005.
The New York Daily News reported that the three women went after Brown on orders from 33-year-old Timothy Collier. The "Chyna Doll" performer supposedly had just dumped Collier after learning he was a pimp.
Anthony was arrested on Sunday and, unable to post the $50,000 bond, was remanded to Riker's Island. Investigators continue to search for the other alleged attackers, as well as Collier, but so far have yet to make additional arrests.
Brown initially played nice with the cops, accompanying officers in an unmarked police car and identifying the Belize-born Anthony as one of her assailants. By the next day, however, the rapper clammed up—investigators believe she was either embarrassed at being linked to a pimp or was just following the hip-hop world's code of silence when it comes to cooperating with authorities.
Or maybe, as Allhiphop.com quoted Brown's manager, Chaz Williams, it was because she got her bag back.
If Brown should change her mind, prosecutors still have six months to bring charges against Anthony from the date the incident occurred. Anthony is scheduled to return to court Aug. 9.
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