Nick Gordon Arrested in Florida on Domestic Violence Charges
Nick Gordon, former boyfriend of the late Bobbi Kristina Brown, was arrested during the early morning hours on Saturday on a domestic battery charge in Florida, PEOPLE confirms.
According to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, police responded to a possible domestic disturbance at the home of Gordon, 29, where he was with his girlfriend, Laura Leal.
Gordon told police that he wanted Leal to leave his residence after allegedly ripping his shirt and throwing a bottle at him. Gordon told authorities Leal was “crazy” and the alleged attack was unprovoked, though stated they both had been drinking alcoholic beverages, according to the arrest report.
Leal claimed that she picked Gordon up from a bar and that he allegedly struck her in the face while she was driving. She added that Gordon also allegedly pulled her hair and “stated to her that he should make her wreck the vehicle,” according to the arrest report.
The responding officer observed Leal had a slightly swollen bottom lip with dried blood and took photos of her injuries. She refused medical treatment, the report stated.
Leal refused to press charges against Gordon, but he was arrested for battery domestic violence based on her statement and facial injuries.
Gordon was given a bond of $500 and is currently in the process of being released, according to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office website. He is due back in court on April 6.
Gordon, who was found civilly liable for Brown’s death in November 2016 and ordered to pay $36 million to her estate, was previously arrested in June 2017 on domestic battery and false imprisonment charges after Leal filed a police report alleging her boyfriend had beaten her and held her in her home.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s office told PEOPLE in a statement following the incident, “We have consistently refrained from commenting on our investigation into the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown because of our general policy regarding commenting on open criminal investigations.”
They continued, “However, it goes without saying that the arrest of Nick Gordon in the Florida domestic violence case will certainly add an additional layer of evidence to the final resolution of this matter.”
On Jan. 31, 2015, Brown was found unconscious and unresponsive in the bathtub of the Georgia townhouse she shared with Gordon. She was later moved to a moved to a medical rehab center in March 2015, before she was transferred to an Atlanta-area hospice facility, where she died on July 26, 2015.
The D.A. office’s criminal investigation into Brown’s death remains ongoing, and no charges have been brought.
Brown’s father, Bobby Brown, told Rolling Stone in a February interview that he didn’t feel justice was served after Gordon was found civilly liable in her death, saying, “No, not yet. Because he’s still walking around free.”
