Rapper Chris Brown held over assault

Washington - Rapper Chris Brown was arrested and charged with assault in Washington early on Sunday after getting into a fight with a man outside a hotel near the White House, police said.

Brown was charged with felony assault at 04:25 (08:25 GMT) after the altercation outside the W Hotel, a few hundred metres from the White House, Officer Anthony Clay of the Metropolitan police department said.

Another man involved in the fight, Christopher Hollosy, was arrested on the same charge. News reports referred to the second individual as Brown's bodyguard. Clay said he could not confirm Hollosy's relationship with Brown.

The victim was taken to the hospital, Clay said.

Brown has been on probation since 2009 for assaulting Rihanna, his then girlfriend, and the new arrest could complicate that parole.

This was revoked over the summer after Brown was charged with a hit-and-run traffic accident in Los Angeles, but reinstated after he agreed to another 1 000 hours of community labor.

The Los Angeles County Attorney's office has accused Brown of cutting corners of his community labour sentence, which he was allowed to complete in his home state of Virginia.