Editing James Brown (section)

===Theft and assault convictions===
Brown's personal life was marred by numerous brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was convicted of theft, and served three years in juvenile prison. In 1963, during a concert held at Club 15 in [[Macon, Georgia]], while [[Otis Redding]] was performing alongside his former band [[Johnny Jenkins]] and the Pinetoppers, Brown, reportedly wielding two shotguns,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Martinko|first=Jason|year=2018|title=Hold What You've Got: The Joe Tex Story|isbn=978-1-387-93286-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OvHCDwAAQBAJ&q=Macon+joe+tex+james+brown&pg=PA21|page=21|publisher=Lulu.com |access-date=October 26, 2020|archive-date=August 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813221904/https://books.google.com/books?id=OvHCDwAAQBAJ&q=Macon+joe+tex+james+brown&pg=PA21|url-status=live}}</ref> tried to shoot his musical rival [[Joe Tex]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2019/08/03/Jason-Martinko-Hold-What-You-ve-Got-Joe-Tex-Story/stories/201908040002 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808005601/https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2019/08/03/Jason-Martinko-Hold-What-You-ve-Got-Joe-Tex-Story/stories/201908040002 |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |title='Hold What You've Got': A local writer pulls Joe Tex's story into the light |date=August 3, 2019 |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |access-date=May 30, 2023}}{{cbignore}}</ref>  
The incident led to multiple people being shot and stabbed.<ref name="part1" /> Since Brown was still on parole at the time, he relied on his agent Clint Brantley "and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear".<ref name="part1" /> According to Jenkins, "seven people got shot", and after the shootout ended, a man appeared and gave "each one of the injured a hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press".<ref name="part1" /> Brown was never charged for the incident.

On July 16, 1978, after performing at the [[Apollo Theater|Apollo]], Brown was arrested for reportedly failing to turn in records from one of his radio stations after the station was forced to file for bankruptcy.<ref name="jbencyclopedia">{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/James_Brown.aspx |title=James Brown Facts, information, pictures Encyclopedia.com articles about James Brown |access-date=July 24, 2012 |archive-date=October 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026002942/http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/James_Brown.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Smith|2012|p=225}}
[[File:Ford F150 Single Cab.JPG|thumb|An eighth generation [[Ford F-150]] single cab, similar to the truck Brown drove during his infamous [[high-speed chase]] along the [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]–[[South Carolina]] border in September 1988]]
Brown was arrested on April 3, 1988, for assault,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQmqcaS5LIM James Brown CNN Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331190241/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQmqcaS5LIM |date=March 31, 2016 }}, April 4, 1988.</ref> and again in May 1988 on drug and weapons charges, and again on September 24, 1988, following a high-speed car chase on [[Interstate 20]] near the [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]–[[South Carolina]] state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. He was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released on parole on February 27, 1991, after serving two years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act,<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/daily/2007/jamesbrown.pdf In the Matter of James Joseph Brown, File No. SV-44B-3846] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305005033/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/daily/2007/jamesbrown.pdf |date=March 5, 2016 }} (1989). Criminal Investigative Division, Civil Rights Unit. U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved June 3, 2007 (Adobe Acrobat Reader required for viewing).</ref> related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment, and assaulted him after his arrest.<ref>Stephens, J. (April 3, 2007). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201614.html "FBI file recounts James Brown's side Of '88 police chase"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621132851/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201614.html |date=June 21, 2017 }}, ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved June 4, 2007.</ref> Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.

In 1998, a woman named Mary Simons accused Brown in a civil suit of holding her captive for three days, demanding oral sex and firing a gun in his office. Simons' charge was eventually dismissed.<ref name="part1" /> Another civil suit, filed by former background singer Lisa Rushton, alleged that between 1994 and 1999, Brown allegedly demanded sexual favors, and when refused, would cut off her pay and kept her offstage.<ref name="part1" /> She claimed that Brown would "place a hand on her buttocks and loudly told her in a crowded restaurant to not look or speak to any other man besides himself". Rushton eventually withdrew her lawsuit.<ref name="part1" /> In another civil suit, a woman named Lisa Agbalaya, who worked for Brown, said the singer would tell her he had "bull testicles", handed her a pair of zebra-print underwear, told her to wear them while he massaged her with oil, and fired her after she refused.<ref name="part1" /> A Los Angeles jury cleared the singer of [[sexual harassment]], but found him liable for wrongful termination.<ref name="part1" />

The police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000, after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife, when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence.<ref>[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jamesbrown1.html Aiken County Sheriff's Office Incident Report, Case No. 0000030719] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231231754/http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jamesbrown1.html |date=December 31, 2006 }} (July 3, 2000). The Smoking Gun. Retrieved January 8, 2007.</ref> In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the [[South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services]] for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.<ref name=jbpardon>"South Carolina pardons James Brown for past crimes" (June 9, 2003). ''Jet Magazine'', 36. Retrieved January 14, 2007, from the Lexis-Nexis Academic database.</ref>