CHRIS BROWN ARRESTED AGAIN CHARGE WITH A FELONY & REMAINS IN JAIL

Chris Brown and his bodyguard were arrested at 4:25 a.m. Sunday and charged with felony assault, TMZ has confirmed.

The bust went down on 15th Street, N.W. outside the W Hotel in Washington, D.C. after Brown and Hollosy were allegedly involved in an altercation with another man.

sources tell TMZ how the fight was triggered.  Two woman approached Brown in front of the W Hotel and asked to take a picture with him.  As the pic was about to be taken, 2 men rushed over to get in the photo.  We're told Chris then said, "I'm not into this gay s**t, I'm into boxing," and threw a punch at the alleged victim.  The fight was then taken to the ground.

9:05 PT -- TMZ just spoke with the victim. He tells us Chris broke his nose and he may need surgery as early as tomorrow morning. The victim confirmed he and a friend photo bombed the two women who were taking a picture with Brown when Chris went nuts. The victim says he's not a Chris Brown fan ... and was just hanging with a couple girls at the hotel when he saw the singer outside. The victim says he doesn't understand why Brown would be "so homophobic" to hurl such a slur. And get this ... the victim says he would have accepted an apology at the scene, but now he will absolutely press charges -- and he already has a lawyer.

The rapper and Christopher Hollosy are expected to remain in jail overnight, Washington Metropolitan Police Department Public Information Officer Anthony Clay tells us. Chris was with his bodyguard, and we're told he was also arrested.

“This being Sunday, it is not likely there will be a bail hearing until the morning,” the officer said.

Brown is still on probation in the Rihanna beating case and this could be grounds for violating his probation -- which means he could be sentenced to prison for nearly 4 years ... worst case scenario for him.