Vanilla Ice has been trying to improve his image over the last four seasons of his DIY Network reality series The Vanilla Ice Project, but the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper landed himself in legal trouble when a neighbor recently accused him of stealing furniture and pool equipment. The reality star agreed to a plea deal over the grand theft charge in Florida on Thursday, allowing him to avoid prosecution and keep the incident off of his criminal record.
Vanilla Ice’s home currently is under construction, and is the site of his home renovation show, The Vanilla Ice Project. A spokesperson for the Lantana police department recently told the Guardian that the rapper, whose real name is Robert Van Winkle, was accused by a next-door-neighbor of stealing a pool heater, bicycles, furniture and miscellaneous objects over the course of three months. When police entered Van Winkle’s home, they caught him furnishing the property with the stolen objects, which were returned to their owner after his arrest.
Van Winkle entered Palm Beach County Court on Thursday, and agreed to the pre-trial intervention deal which requires him to perform 100 hours of community service and pay $1,333 to the estate of his neighbor. While the deal also forced him to acknowledge that he is guilty of the crime, the charge will be dismissed and Vanilla Ice will have no criminal record for the theft upon completing terms of the agreement.
Vanilla Ice still claims that the incident was a misunderstanding and that most of the items he was accused of stealing had been left outside the home by squatters who had been vandalizing the unoccupied property, but he is reportedly satisfied with the terms of the plea deal.
“He’s pretty thrilled. He’s never really been in trouble like this before so obviously he was nervous,” said defense lawyer Bradford Cohen, adding that Van Winkle is happy to have the charge resolved before the start of his reality series’ fifth season.
The plea deal requires the rapper-turned-contractor’s community service to take place at a Habitat for Humanity project in Palm Beach County.
