An officer at the Atlanta city jail said Brown was charged with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, speeding and having no driver’s license or proof of insurance.

Brown, 33, was stopped around 2:30 a.m. in the Cadillac Escalade he was driving. Several other people were in the sport utility vehicle, but were not arrested, Atlanta police Sgt. R. Miniatis said.

Brown’s wife, singer Whitney Houston, was not in the vehicle.

He posted $1,500 bond at the Atlanta jail shortly before 9 a.m., then was taken to the nearby DeKalb County jail, where he was wanted for failing to appear in court on driving charges from February 1997.

The DeKalb County charges included driving under the influence, speeding, failing to maintain a lane and having no proof of insurance. He was released on $10,000 bond.

A hearing on the charges was scheduled for Friday in DeKalb Superior Court.

Both Brown and Houston have had drug- or alcohol-related brushes with the law in the past few years.

In May 2000, Brown spent 26 days in a Florida jail for violating his parole on a 1996 drunken-driving conviction by not submitting to a drug test.

Houston, 39, was charged with having marijuana in her purse at a Hawaii airport in 2000, but the misdemeanor charge was dismissed.

Brown was a member of the R&B group New Edition, but left in the late ’80s for a solo career, and recorded hits including “My Prerogative” and “Every Little Step.” He rejoined the group for “Home Again,” a reunion album that debuted at the top of U.S. pop charts in 1996.
 

NEWSFILE: 7 NOVEMBER 2002