|
Busta Back on Police Blotter
05/03/2007 7:06 AM, E! Online
Busta Rhymes has been arrested on charges of drunken driving. Must be Thursday.
The rapper-actor's ongoing spate of law-skirting car troubles continued in New York early this morning, when Rhymes was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of driving while impaired after initially being pulled over for the considerably lesser offense of driving with excessively tinted windows.
Behold, the dangers of pimping one's ride.
According to the New York Police Department, the hip-hopster was pulled over at 12:48 a.m. after patrolmen determined that the windows on his 2006 GMC Yukon Denali were overly darkened.
NYPD spokesman Detective John Sweeney said that officers detected a "strong odor of alcohol on his breath," and that the "Gimme Some More" performer, whose real name is Trevor Smith, exhibited signs of intoxication. For example, Sweeney said, Rhymes "dropped his wallet to the ground" while attempting to show his identification.
Rhymes submitted to a field sobriety test and his blood-alcohol level was clocked at 0.147, nearly double New York state's 0.08 percent legal limit.
The 34-year-old was arrested for the DWI and remained in custody pending an arraignment hearing later today.
By now he knows the routine.
Rhymes was pulled in February over for running a red light in Manhattan in the predawn hours. Police ran his record and discovered that his license had been suspended; he was arrested and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle in the third degree and unlicensed driving.
Rhymes' license was suspended after failing to answer a previous summons, though it's not immediately clear for which of his driving-related infractions.
Last November, the chart-topper was nabbed by police for gabbing on his cell phone while driving the same GMC Denali through the streets of New York. The moving violation did result in a summons.
The Brooklyn-born artist was also the subject of a criminal complaint filed by a 19-year-old fan, who claimed he was beaten up by the "What's It Gonna Be" rapper after spitting on Rhymes' SUV. Cops added a weapon possession charge after finding a 10-inch machete in Rhymes' car.
That case has been combined with a second assault count, stemming from an alleged beat-down of his former driver, and Rhymes is slated to stand trial on the charges in New York on Tuesday.
Rhymes had originally brokered a deal with prosecutors in which he would have pleaded guilty to a lesser assault rap in exchange for avoiding jail time, but following his February arrest, the plea bargain option was taken off the table.
Rhymes has since turned down two follow-up deals, both of which would have required some quality time behind bars. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
|
