Trey Songz won’t be charged in Chiefs game altercation with police, prosecutors say
Jackson County prosecutors said Tuesday they have declined to file criminal charges against R&B artist Trey Songz who allegedly punched a Kansas City police officer during the AFC Championship game at Arrowhead Stadium earlier this year.
Songz, whose name is Tremaine Aldon Neverson, was arrested the evening of Jan. 24 after he allegedly punched a Kansas City police officer and put the officer in a headlock during the game between the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills.
“We declined to file a charge because of insufficient evidence,” said Michael Mansur, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.
The prosecutor’s office alerted the police department about its decision not to file charges in recent days, Mansur said.
Songz’s attorney, John P. O’Connor, declined to comment Tuesday.
Capt. David Jackson, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, said on Tuesday that the department provided prosecutors with a complete case file that included surveillance footage of Songz’s conduct at the stadium.
The altercation happened, police said, when fans complained during the game about a man who was not wearing a mask, and was not following the Arrowhead fan code of conduct or the “mandates of the Kansas City Missouri Health Department.”
The fans asked private security to address the matter. The man, who was later identified as Songz, “was not receptive and refused to comply with Arrowhead security,” police said at the time.
Songz was asked to leave but he refused. Security then asked for assistance from Kansas City police officers, who told Songz that if he did not leave, he would be arrested for trespassing, according to KCPD’s statement.
He still refused to comply and an officer told Songz that he would be arrested.
Other fans turned around to watch the altercation. Songz allegedly punched the officer, which can be seen four minutes and 45 seconds into stadium surveillance footage police released after the altercation. Songz then held the officer in a headlock at five minutes and 20 seconds in the video, according to police.
The surveillance video shows a man, who police point out as Songz, in a scuffle with an officer, though it is unclear what exactly took place.
In 2017, Songz was charged with felony assault and assaulting a police officer after he became upset when he was told to end a performance in Detroit, the Associated Press has reported. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of disturbing the peace and was sentenced to 18 months of probation, according to the AP.
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 2:49 PM.
