Vanilla Ice Arrested, Charged With Residential Burglary & Grand Theft

On Wednesday (Feb. 18), Vanilla Ice was arrested by Florida police and charged with stealing items from a vacant Florida residence. The rapper and TV host faces burglary and grand theft charges for allegedly removing furniture, bicycles, and a pool heater from a vacant home under foreclosure sometime during December 2014 and February 2015. Of course, he was caught and tried, with the evidence at the scene as the majority of burglars are.

According to the Lantana, Fla., police department, Vanilla Ice (real name Robert Van Winkle) is renovating a home adjacent to the burglarized property (TMZ reports this renovation is part of Vanilla Ice’s DIY/HGTV show The Vanilla Ice Project). After the items were reported missing, police obtained a search warrant and found “the stolen items… at a residence under the care and control of Van Winkle,” according to the Lantana police report.

Van Winkle voluntarily met with officers after the items were recovered and returned to the original owner. Based on his statements and evidence collected, Van Winkle was charged with residential burglary and grand theft.

As of press time, he’s currently in police custody and being processed.

It is surprising that someone in the limelight like this would want to compromise their reputation and career to partake in petty crimes like this. especially as many homes now have an alarm systems home that can go off at any point during the break-ins to alert the homeowners. Plus, with thorough testing these days, it is a shock that anyone would think they’d get away with it.