Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown reacts courtside after the Miami Heat defeated Detroit 105-98 after four quarters of an NBA game at FTX Arena in Downtown Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
dvarela@miamiherald.com
Former NFL star Antonio Brown was extradited from the Middle East to the U.S. to face trial for a shooting that occurred outside a Miami boxing event earlier this year, police confirmed Thursday afternoon.
Brown, 37, is in custody, police say, although they have not elaborated on his whereabouts. It is currently unclear the exact time that law enforcement officials apprehended him and when he will be transported to Miami-Dade.
The former All-Pro wide receiver is wanted on an attempted murder charge stemming from a May 16 dispute at a boxing event hosted by influencer Adin Ross. Brown’s Instagram posts show he has been in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the last few months.
When the warrant was issued for the Miami native’s arrest in June, he had an attorney who secured him a $10,000 bond, including house arrest. But Brown never turned himself in — and police would not divulge whether they planned on extraditing him.
READ MORE: A month after Miami arrest warrant, Antonio Brown is still in Dubai. Police won’t talk
On the night of the shooting, Brown was detained — but not arrested — outside the venue, a warehouse located at 221 NE 67th St. in Miami’s Little River neighborhood.
The day after the incident, Brown said in a post on X that he was “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.” Video posted to social media showed the All-Pro wide receiver appearing to hold a gun and running out of frame. Seconds later, gunshots were heard.
READ MORE: Where’s Antonio Brown? Facing attempted murder, wanted NFL star left the country
Before the gunfire, Brown punched Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, a 41-year-old who later told police he has known Brown since 2022, according to the warrant. An off-duty lieutenant with the Florida Highway Patrol broke up the fight. However, witnesses then told the lieutenant that Brown might be armed.
Brown, the warrant says, was detained and searched. No firearm was found on him, although police found two spent shell casings and a damaged right-handed holster outside the venue. Brown was released because the man shot, later identified as Nantambu, was no longer at the venue.
Brown, victim weren’t strangers
Three years before the shooting, Brown falsely accused Nantambu of stealing $3 million in jewelry from him, court documents say. The man spent a month in a Middle Eastern jail before proving that Brown lied.
Nantambu, a jeweler, said he met Brown on the plane to Dubai before a Floyd Mayweather bout. When he showed Brown a pendant, which houses a digital display that projects a photo or video, Brown wanted to wear the chain. But he never returned it.
READ MORE: Antonio Brown’s false accusations put Miami jeweler in Dubai jail for month: lawsuit
Instead, Brown accused him of stealing his jewelry, and Nantambu said he was arrested in the middle of the night in a hotel room in the neighboring country of Oman, where he had planned a short trip. Nantambu said he was held in a jail that was like a tomb, without any windows or mattresses, until he was transferred to a crowded Dubai jail four days later.
In total, Nantambu said he was detained for 40 days. Nantambu took Brown to Broward circuit court, seeking the return of the diamond chain and pendant as well as damages for his wrongful detention in Dubai.
“I think that when he saw me, I reminded him of his financial failure,” Nantambu, a businessman and humanitarian who has amassed more than 110,000 followers on Instagram, previously told the Miami Herald.
Gunshot ‘possibly grazed’ victim’s neck?
A day after the shooting, detectives reviewed security footage that showed Brown and two others attacking Nantambu before the gunfire, according to the warrant. Security broke up the fight, and Nantambu walked away. Then, Brown took a gun from a security guard before running after Nantambu.
Detectives later interviewed Nantambu, who said he tried to leave after Brown attacked him. But Brown, he asserted, chased him with a gun and fired at him — possibly grazing his neck.
The two struggled over the gun before ending up on the ground, Nantambu told police. When officers arrived, Nantambu said Brown hid the weapon under a dark piece of cloth and walked away.
Fearing for his life, Nantambu said he left and sought medical care at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital.
Nantambu declined to comment when reached Thursday.
Grethel Aguila
Miami Herald
Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.
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