Chico DeBarge and James DeBarge were arrested after a traffic stop in Burbank, California, on the night of Aug. 27, when police say they found suspected fentanyl and suspected methamphetamine. Chico was reportedly inside a Nissan SUV being towed by a Chevy Tahoe driven by James.
Police, citing traffic violations, said the vehicles had no license plates and that the brothers were not wearing seat belts. The stop turned into a drug case after officers said they recovered the suspected narcotics and arrested both men on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance.
The arrest puts Chico back in a legal spotlight that has followed him before. He has spoken publicly about addiction, and reports have said he previously served time on narcotics-related charges, making this latest stop especially hard to separate from the history that has followed the DeBarge name for years.
That family name still carries weight because James and Chico are members of the DeBarge family of musicians, whose hits in the 1980s and 1990s included Rhythm of the Night and I Like It. But the detail that will matter most now is the one not yet answered: what warrant Chico allegedly had, and what charge or case it was tied to.
For now, the confirmed next step is simply that the arrests have been made and the questions around the warrant, the suspected drugs, and what police do next remain open.
