Sean Kingston arrested in Southern California after raid on his Florida home

Singer-rapper Sean Kingston was arrested in San Bernardino County on Thursday, hours after a SWAT team raided his rented South Florida mansion.

Kingston, known for his hits “Beautiful Girls” and “Fire Burning,” was arrested near the Fort Irwin military base without incident on a Florida warrant, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Associated Press. The 34-year-old Teen Choice Awards winner was arrested hours after his 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner, was arrested in Florida.

On Thursday afternoon, SWAT officers entered Kingston’s rented mansion in Southwest Ranches, an affluent Fort Lauderdale suburb whose prominent residents include action star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. A spokesman for the Broward County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond Friday to The Times’ request for further details on the arrests.

After the raid, police officers could be seen loading a delivery truck with goods, AP reported. Video from NBC6 South Florida showed several luxury cars – including a Mercedes-Benz, two Bentleys and a Tesla – parked outside the property.

Robert Rosenblatt, legal representative of the “Eenie Meenie” singer (real name Kisean Anderson) and his mother, told AP on Thursday that he was aware of the allegations against his clients and was “confident that there will be a successful resolution.” Before his own arrest, the artist, who grew up in Jamaica, had apparently addressed the raid and the arrest of his mother on Instagram.

“People love negative energy,” he wrote in a now-expired Instagram story. “I’m fine and so is my mom! … my lawyers are taking care of everything right now.”

Kingston and his mother have both had legal troubles. Turner pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 2006 for stealing more than $160,000 and served nearly 18 months in prison, AP reported, citing court records. She is being held at Broward County Main Jail pending $160,000 bail.

Kingston, who was hospitalized for a near-fatal jet-ski accident in 2011, was indicted in February for allegedly defrauding a Florida company that installed a 232-inch television in his home. Attorney Dennis Card, who sued Kingston and was present during the raid, told AP that the search was partly related to the lawsuit.

Card claims in his lawsuit that Kingston approached Ver Ver Entertainment about buying the $150,000 TV. The musician allegedly told Ver Ver Entertainment’s owners that he and “Eenie Meenie” collaborator Justin Bieber would shoot commercials for the company if they agreed to a smaller down payment. He paid $30,000, but the commercials never materialized, the lawsuit claims. Kingston made no further payments, Card claims. Kingston and Bieber have not released a song together since their 2010 hit.

“It’s amazing what you can get away with as a celebrity,” the lawyer told AP on Thursday. “He creates this outsized ‘I’m rich’ persona. His mother is a necessary part of that. He presents himself as a family-oriented guy, ‘I take care of my mother,’ but she knows exactly what’s going on.”

Kingston was also charged with multiple firearms violations, fraud and robbery in Florida in 2018. He is serving a two-year probation sentence for trafficking in stolen goods in connection with a 2020 incident involving an unpaid jewelry bill, according to the Florida Department of Corrections database.

Kingston will remain in California until his extradition to Florida.