Chris Brown charged with hit-and-run

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Chris Brown's legal troubles got more serious Tuesday when a Los Angeles prosecutor charged him in a minor traffic crash.

Brown already faces a charge that he violated his probation in connection with his felony assault conviction in the beating of his girlfriend Rihanna.

Brown, 24, allegedly was driving a car that rear-ended another car in Los Angeles in May.

The Los Angeles city attorney filed charges of hit-and-run driving and driving without a license, according to spokesman Frank Mateljan.

Friends since 2005, Chris Brown and Rihanna went public with their romantic relationship in 2008. The couple went their separate ways after Brown pleaded guilty in June 2009 to assaulting the Barbadian singer on the eve of the 51st Grammy Awards. They've since reconciled, only to seemingly break up again. Here's a look back at their rocky relationship:

In August 2007, Brown and Rihanna joined Timbaland, center, and Robin Thicke onstage during MTV's "Total Request Live" in New York

The couple spent time together on the beach in Barbados in August 2008.

Rihanna and Brown danced together at a club in Paris in December 2008.

In December 2008, Brown and Rihanna performed onstage during Z100's Jingle Ball in New York.

Brown stood beside his lawyer, Mark Geragos, at court in Los Angeles in March 2009. Brown was charged with assaulting Rihanna on February 8. "I'm in shock, because, first of all, that's not who I am as a person, and that's not who I promise I want to be," Brown told Larry King in August 2009.

Months after the incident, Rihanna left a preliminary hearing at court in Los Angeles in June 2009. "We just fell really fast, and the more in love we became, the more dangerous we became for each other -- equally as dangerous -- because it was a bit of an obsession," Rihanna said during a 2009 interview with Diane Sawyer.

In June 2010, Brown performed a tribute to Michael Jackson during the BET Awards in Los Angeles. After Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting Rihanna, a restraining order mandated that the pair cut off communication and remain a certain distance apart.

Rihanna performs onstage during the 2011 Grammy Awards. In February, Schnegg lifted the "stay away" order imposed on Brown.

Brown with a cake at a party in New York honoring the March 2011 release of his "F.A.M.E." album.

The "Birthday Cake" singer opened up to Oprah about the night that changed everything between her and Brown during an August 2012 interview. "I lost my best friend," she said. "Everything I knew switched -- switched in a night -- and I couldn't control that, so I had to deal with that, and that's not easy for me to understand."

In 2012, the pair shocked onlookers when they cozied up to one another at a Lakers game on Christmas.

Rihanna opened up to Rolling Stone about her repaired relationship with Brown in the magazine's February 1 issue, and by February 6, the pair were seen cruising in Brown's car.

And by the Grammy Awards two weeks later, the pair were seen cuddling in the audience.

The rumors about the pair's romantic status heated up around Rihanna's 25th birthday in late February when the two were seen vacationing together.

Although Rihanna's infamous for sharing cozy photos of herself with Brown on Instagram, he clarified in early May 2013 that they weren't a couple. "[A]t the end of the day, shawty doing her own thang, she on the road. It's always gonna be love. I'm a grown man, just gotta fast forward," he told an Australian radio station. "I'm always gonna love that person. I can't be focused on wife-ing someone that young. I need to be the best Chris Brown I can be."

Rihanna and Chris Brown's relationship through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna, Chris Brown through the years

Rihanna and Chris Brown's relationship through the years

Rihanna and Chris Brown's relationship through the years

Rihanna and Chris Brown's relationship through the years

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Brown's Twitter defense

While Brown's representatives did not immediately respond to CNN calls for comment, the singer used his Twitter account to protest the charges:

"It's not a hit and run if u get out the car, exchange information (who has NO DAMAGE to either cars).This is really ridiculous"

"I have a valid drivers license and I gave the woman the right info. She saw cameras and wanted to make a scene."

"She contacted the cops thinking of a payday from Chris Brown when I followed the proper procedures."

"My lawyers will be contacting you. I will not stand for this bullying and yellow journalism!"

"My profile pic is the pic I took of the persons car after "the hit and run". NO damage. Just a dirty car. once again, I gotta clear my name"

"I work my ass off to provide for my entire family. I've made mistakes in the past and have worked hard to be a better person. "

"19-24 years of age. I don't have all the answers and you can't show me a person that age who has it figured out. We live and grow. Let me live"

Freedom on the line?

While the misdemeanor charges -- which carry a maximum of a year in jail -- would not ordinarily threaten a defendant's freedom, Brown's felony probation could be revoked if a judge decides the new arrest is a violation. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney said prosecutors will review the charge once they are officially notified by the city attorney.

An arraignment for the new charges has been set for the morning of July 15 at the Van Nuys courthouse. Brown is also scheduled to be in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom that afternoon for another hearing to set a date for his trial in his probation violation case.

Brown punched Rihanna inside a rented Lamborghini on a Hollywood street, leaving her face bruised and bloody on the eve of the Grammy Awards in February 2009.

He entered a guilty plea seven months later and was sentenced to serve five years probation and to spend more than 1,400 hours in "labor-oriented service" for the assault conviction. The judge allowed him to serve the sentence in Richmond, Virginia, under the direct supervision of the police chief.

In a court filing in February 2013, prosecutors accused Brown of not completing the community labor. The paperwork Brown submitted to show he had completed community labor is "at best sloppy documentation and at worst fraudulent reporting," District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. Brown wasn't in town on some of the dates reported, the motion said.

Mark Geragos, Brown's attorney, said the prosecutor's filing was so fraudulent that he would ask the judge to punish the deputy district attorneys involved and call for a contempt of court hearing for filing false documents with the court.

"And I don't mean just false, it is fraudulent," Geragos said.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has "tortured" Brown during his probation more than any client he's ever had, Geragos said.

Despite the serious allegations outlined in the court filing, the prosecutor is not asking for Brown's probation to be revoked and the singer sent to jail. She is asking the judge to order him to restart his 1,400 hours of community service under the supervision of a Los Angeles probation officer.

Nightclub incident denied

Brown's representative denied allegations Monday that the singer assaulted a woman while inside of an Anaheim, California, nightclub on Saturday.

The accuser told TMZ that Brown shoved her while they were in the VIP area of Heat Ultra Lounge that night, causing her to take a hard fall and injuring her knee.

The owner of the venue has called the claims false, and Brown's rep has made a similar denial.

"Reports that Chris Brown had physical contact with a female patron at the nightclub Heat are totally false and unfounded," Brown's rep told CNN. "Upon speaking with witnesses, security and the owner of the club, it has been proven that said patron caused the physical harm to herself in her belligerent state."

According to the Anaheim Police Department, an assault and battery report was filed by phone on Sunday evening. The case is considered an open and ongoing investigation.

CNN's Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.