Reality star Erica Banks arrested during traffic stop that revealed stolen car, police say

The rapper and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta cast member Erica Banks was arrested in Brookhaven, Georgia, after a traffic stop yielded drugs in her possession and revealed that the vehicle she had been traveling in had been reported stolen.

Banks, whose birth name is Erica Breaux, was arrested Monday afternoon and booked into the DeKalb County Jail, officials said.

Brookhaven Police said that the episode started when an officer stopped a vehicle with a tinted tag over its vehicle registration, a violation under Georgia statute that makes it illegal to have any material that conceals or obscures a tag.

Damn Erica Bank got arrested on Buford Highway for intent to distribute cuz she had a big party pack of X pills.

2nd charge in Georgia this year pic.twitter.com/JgtMal53fA

— HipHopLivesNATL (@HipHopLivesNATL) December 9, 2025

The car also had dealer plates which are, by law, only meant to be used by employees of the dealership or for vehicles in for sale status. As the officer ran the tag, it came back as stolen out of Atlanta.

Erica Banks was a passenger in the vehicle, which was driven by Amani Dirton. The officer pulled the car over, asked both men to step out of the car and searched it. When police searched Banks, they found several packages of Ecstasy inside her purse and multiple bags of marijuana on Dirton. Both were taken into custody at the scene.

Erica Banks charged with possession of schedule II controlled substance

Banks, 26, was charged with possession with intent to distribute a Schedule II controlled substance. Dirton was arrested on charges ranging from theft by receiving stolen property to possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute and improper display of license plates.

Erica Banks was released from jail around nine hours after she was booked, according to jail records. Her team members did not respond to requests for comment.

The arrest is the latest in 2025 for Banks, who has gotten into multiple disputes with police. In August, she was arrested at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after Transportation Security Administration officers discovered a handgun in her bag.

She had informed police at the time that she was not aware of the gun’s presence which was loaded with a six-round magazine when officers found it in her luggage. She stated that it was a weapon of her security team. She was freed the same day.

Banks found fame behind her breakthrough 2020 single “Buss It,” which went viral with a TikTok challenge and skyrocketed the musician into a pop icon. Raised in Desoto, Texas, she’s since established a career built on combining club ready rap with women focused songwriting.

Her early wins landed her a record deal and eventually, a spot on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, where she made her debut in Season 11 in 2023. In previous interviews she talked about her ambition, levels of business and plans to branch out into acting, writing and entrepreneurship.