A 20-year-old Daytona Beach man is in custody after police say he pulled up on Rick Ross’s son, pointed a handgun at him, threatened to kill him, and then struck him in the head with the weapon near Bethune-Cookman University.
Don Roberts III was arrested on Friday, October 16, and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to police records reported by NBC 6 South Florida.
The alleged attack happened on October 11 at around 9:40 p.m. near the intersection of McLeod Avenue and Weaver Street, close to the Bethune-Cookman campus. William Roberts III told police he was standing on a sidewalk talking with a woman when a gray BMW or Kia passenger car pulled up and the driver got out and confronted him, first yelling, “that’s what we doin.”
According to the arrest report, William believed the confrontation was about the woman standing beside him, because she and Don Roberts had previously been romantically involved. The encounter escalated when Don approached him holding a tan-colored handgun and pointed it directly at him.
“I don’t care who your daddy is, I’ll kill you right here,” Don allegedly told him, according to the arrest report — a threat aimed squarely at the fact that William’s father is one of the most famous rappers in the world. Investigators say Don then raised the firearm and struck William on the right side of the head with it.
Police documented minor swelling on the right side of William’s head, but he told officers he did not need medical treatment. He got into his vehicle and drove home instead of calling the police that night.
William reported the alleged attack the following day, telling investigators that fear for his safety had delayed him. He gave detectives the suspect’s name and a possible date of birth, and later picked Don Roberts out of a photographic lineup. Officers also reviewed city surveillance footage, but the cameras did not capture the confrontation itself.
The arrest came five days after the incident. WKMG News 6 reported on Tuesday that Don Roberts was no longer listed on the Volusia County Jail’s online inmate records, though it was not established whether he had posted bond. The charges against him remain allegations, and he has not been convicted of anything.
William, a redshirt freshman tight end listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds on Bethune-Cookman’s 2025 roster, joined the program in 2024 out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, where he was part of four consecutive state championship teams. His father also played college football, at Albany State, before building his music career.
The case has already pulled in Rick Ross’s oldest rap rival. On Tuesday, 50 Cent shared Don Roberts’ mugshot on Instagram and mocked Ross over the arrest, writing: “Damn got the man arrested, why he didn’t just call his dad. He probably called the cops for him. LOL.” In follow-up posts, 50 Cent asked for the accused man’s information, said he would bond him out, and name-checked celebrity attorney Drew Findling. William’s mother, Tia Kemp, fired back at 50 Cent in her own Instagram post.
XXL says it has reached out to the Daytona Beach Police Department and to Rick Ross’s team for comment. Neither has publicly addressed the arrest so far.
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