Grammy-winning R&B singer Chris Brown was named by Las Vegas police as a misdemeanour battery suspect, accusing him of punching a man with whom he was playing basketball during a pre-dawn altercation at the Palms Casino Resort.

Brown, who turned 26 yesterday, has been given the option of signing a misdemeanour citation or having the case submitted to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution.

Police said the beating victim reported the incident from the hospital, where he was treated for his injuries and released, and that Brown had left the scene at the hotel by the time detectives arrived.

Signing the citation is a promise to appear in court, not an admission of guilt, police said.

Likewise, Brown would be summoned to court if the district attorney were to charge him.

Either way, a conviction carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine, according to police spokesman Larry Hadfield.

Brown’s latest legal quandary comes about six weeks after a judge in Los Angeles ended his probation stemming from the performer’s 2009 guilty plea to charges of assaulting his then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna, on the eve of the Grammy Awards.