INCIDENT REPORT
NAME: James Brown
LOCATION: Aiken County, South Carolina and
Augusta, Georgia
ARREST: September 24, 1988
CHARGE: Simple assault; carrying a pistol without a license; carrying a deadly weapon at a public gathering; two counts of assault with intent to kill; seven misdemeanor charges.
The people attending an afternoon insurance seminar, were surprised to find James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul", walk in wearing a cowboy hat and brandishing a pistol and a shotgun. "Who used my restroom?" demanded the Hardest-Working man in Show Business, who
kept a business office in the building.
Mr. Brown instructed two women to lock the toilet's door and give him the key. He then left the building, got into his late-model red and white pickup truck and sped off. And sped is the right word. Brown was practically flying. The truck was spotted by a Richmond County police officer, who pursued Mr. Brown onto eastbound interstate 20. As the pickup truck crossed into South Carolina, the chase was picked up by officers from North Augusta, South Carolina.
Officers tried to stop Mr. Brown by shooting out the tires of his truck. Even with the vehicle semi-disabled, Mr. Brown drove on the rims through a blockade, turned around, and headed back to Georgia. With several police cars hot on his tail, Mr. Brown drove off the road, where his rims got stuck in the dirt, and he was finally apprehended. The singer was no stranger to the law. Previous charges include possession of the drug PCP, resisting arrest, possession of an unlicensed handgun, and attempted
murder (of his wife, Adrienne Brown). Mrs. Brown refused to testify against her husband, and those charges were dropped.
At Mr. Brown's trial, Aiken County Judge Hubert E. Long listened to long hours of testimony from friends, family, and fans of James Brown and his music. Court Bailiff George Brown pleaded with the judge, "Give him a chance, Your Honor." The defendant himself told the judge that "James Brown is just a man who wants to do right." Admitting that "the responsibility of passing
judgment is not an easy one," Judge Long told the court that he had to consider the community as well as Mr. Brown, then sentenced the singer to six years in the penitentiary, five years of probation with mandatory first-year drug testing, and a $6,000 fine. After two years in prison, James Brown was granted parole by the South Carolina Parole Board.
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