Police arrested the rapper Nelly on Saturday, after a woman said he raped her in a town outside Seattle. The Grammy winner’s attorney staunchly denied the allegation.

An Auburn police spokesman, Cmdr Steve Stocker, said officers arrested Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr, early on Saturday morning in his tour bus at a Walmart.

Nelly performed at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington, on Friday night. He is on tour with Florida Georgia Line and was scheduled to perform in Ridgefield, Washington, on Saturday night.

Nelly’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said: “Our initial investigation clearly establishes this allegation is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vindictiveness. I am confident, once this scurrilous accusation is thoroughly investigated, there will be no charges.

“Nelly is prepared to address and pursue all legal avenues to redress any damage caused by this clearly false allegation.”

Stocker said Nelly was in jail and would have his first appearance before a judge “at some point”.

Nelly is a three-time Grammy winner, including for the song Hot in Herre, which won the best male rap solo performance award in 2002. Sampled and re-recorded by other artists, the song was ranked No21 on a Rolling Stone magazine list of top summer songs. Nelly is also known for hits My Place and Over and Over, he appeared in the 2005 film The Longest Yard.

The following year he shared a Grammy for the song Shake Ya Tailfeather with Murphy Lee and Sean Combs.