Here's What We Know About 'Drag Race' Alum Tyra Sanchez's Arrest

It has now been reported that RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Tyra Sanchez – now best known by the stage name King Tyra – was arrested on Wednesday, May 17 in Florida.

This situation started with a minor car crash involving Tyra, whose legal name is James Ross. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, a police offer named Jay Raulerson responded to the incident, which took place on Southern Villa Drive. Though the police report doesn’t provide further details, it notes that Ross was arrested for allegedly resisting an officer without violence. There’s also one charge of alleged simple assault on an officer.

Ross was subsequently taken to the Bradford County Jail. According to the Starke PD Supervisor of Records quoted in the EW report, the “incident is still under investigation” and “no further” details can be released at this time.

After this incident made headlines, Ross shared a tweet that read:

“Ummm. I’m not in jail. I actually just woke up after exhaustion from my trip to Boston where I attended my son’s high school graduation. You can stop with the rumors and speculation. Standby while I sue [the Starke Police Department].”

Prior to the news of this arrest, Ross was having a landmark 2023 making a comeback as a drag performer under the name of King Tyra. Ross even embarked on a multi-city tour titled Club Tyra and launched an OnlyFans page for exclusive content.

In a subsequent tweet from Sunday, June 11, Ross expressed his disappointment with the news coverage of his arrest, writing:

“To every news outlet/media/blog that has reached out, NO I WILL NOT INTERVIEW WITH YOU. I announced a tour in February, did you cover that? I did an interview in March. Did you cover that? Unless you’re paying at minimum 1k for my time, stay out my inbox. Now, cover that story.”

We’re always rooting for Ross to be doing well in his life and career, and hope that this situation can be cleared up quickly.