Chris Brown arrested after alleged attack on Rihanna

Singer Chris Brown was arrested and charged with making criminal threats on Sunday for an early morning attack on an unidentified woman widely thought to be his girlfriend, pop star Rihanna. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the woman in the incident is Rihanna.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Rihanna was “reportedly hospitalized with bruises on her face.”

Los Angeles police officer Karen Smith says Brown walked into a station around 7 p.m. and was being interviewed by detectives. He released on $50,000 bail, according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement.

Police booked the 19-year-old R&B singer and dancer on suspicion of making a criminal threat, a felony. Police did not explain how their initial report of an injury assault related to the charge, but it will ultimately be up to the district attorney’s office to decide what charges, if any, should be brought against Brown.

Police say the singer and a woman were in a vehicle in the Hancock Park neighborhood at around 12:30 a.m. PT Sunday when they began arguing, and the argument escalated when they got out of the car.

“After stopping his car, Brown and the woman got out and the argument escalated,” the police said. “The woman suffered visible injuries and identified Brown as her attacker.”

Police received a 911 call reporting the disturbance and according to the statement, when officers arrived they found the victim, but Brown had already left the scene.

Both Brown and Rihanna were no-shows for Sunday night’s Grammy Awards. Both were nominated and scheduled to perform.

Brown, who broke onto the Billboard charts at the age of 16 with his hit single “Run It” and sold 2 million copies of his self-titled debut album, also scored a pair of hits on his sophomore effort, “Exclusive,” in 2007.

Barbados-born Rihanna also released her debut album in 2005 and had a number one hit single with “SOS” less than a year later. She followed with three more number ones: “Umbrella,” “Take a Bow” and “Disturbia.”

She won a 2007 Grammy Award for her single “Umbrella,” a collaboration with the rapper Jay-Z.