Kid Rock Arrested After Fight

While promoting his latest CD, Kid Rock vowed he was putting his days of made-for-the-tabloid antics behind him. The man from Michigan says he wants to be known for his music, not as a gossip-column item.

This weekend in Atlanta, Kid Rock managed to do both.

Saturday night, he rocked a sold-out Tabernacle at a show supporting “Rock N Roll Jesus,” currently the No. 1 album in the country and the first chart-topper of his 17-year career.

A few hours later, Kid Rock, who calls his genre-bending blend of country, rap and southern rock “hick-Hop,” was arrested after police said he and his entourage beat up a customer — at a local Waffle House.

Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, was charged with simple battery, as were five other men who were with him.

The 36-year-old rocker was released from DeKalb County Jail on Sunday afternoon after posting a $1,000 bond on the misdemeanor charge.

Police said Ritchie was finishing up a post-show meal at a Waffle House on Buford Highway about 5:15 a.m. Sunday when a customer recognized a woman in his entourage and began exchanging words with her.

Ritchie joined in the altercation, which soon escalated into a physical fight between the rocker and the man, Harlen DeJon Akins, 39.

Soon, five other men in his entourage — including the guitarist and the bass player in his band, Twisted Brown Trucker — jumped into the fray, and the fight spilled from inside the restaurant into the parking lot, said police spokeswoman Mekka Parish.

When the brawl ended, Ritchie and his group got into their tour bus and left the scene. An officer pulled the bus over at Buford Highway and Lenox Road, and all five men were booked into jail on the misdemeanor battery charge.

Along with Ritchie, police charged guitarist Jason E. Krause, 38, bassist Aaron Julison, 27, George P. Vourvoulias, 36; James W. Murphy, 34; and Brian O. Lang, 37.

Akins, the customer who suffered minor cuts and bruises in the fight, faces a more serious charge.

Police said that during the fight, he punched a window of the restaurant and broke it. Because the pane cost more than $500, Akins was charged with a felony criminal damage to property.

The staff at the 24-hour eatery at 2812 Buford Highway said Sunday evening that they weren’t permitted to talk about the fight that resulted in the boarded-up window, referring comments to the restaurant spokesman.

“He [Akins] destroyed the window,” said spokesman Pat Warner. “I really don’t know what the intent was behind it.”

Warner sidestepped questions about Kid Rock facing only a misdemeanor for beating a man, while his alleged victim was slapped with a felony for breaking an $800 window.

“We’re concerned about all our customers,” the spokesman said.

Ritchie’s publicist could not be reached for comment Sunday night.

It was the second weekend in a row that an artist who is signed to Atlantic Records has been arrested in metro Atlanta.

On Oct. 13, federal agents arrested rapper T.I. in a Midtown parking lot as he allegedly tried to illegally buy three machine guns and two silencers, hours before he was to receive two top awards at the BET Hip-Hop Awards.

Unlike T.I, whose rise to success is a bonafide rags-to-riches story, the myth that Ritchie cultivates about growing up in a double-wide trailer in Michigan belies the fact that his father successfully owned two car dealerships.

UPDATE: T.I.’s Lawyers Ask For Bond, Home Confinement

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — Surrounded by record executives and 35 of his relatives, rapper T.I. entered a not guilty plea Friday to gun charges, but a federal judge said he won’t rule until next week on whether T.I. can remain free on a bail that could total $2 million in cash.

 

 

T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, was arrested Saturday on weapons charges.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman said he remained troubled about the behavior of T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris.

Despite an offer by Harris’ attorneys to have him placed under 24-hour monitoring with drug exams during the bail period, Baverman said, “I haven’t heard enough. This is an extremely gifted and talented musician. He has been exceedingly generous and has reached out to the community with great generosity. At the same time and on the same day he was supposed to receive one of the most important awards in his career, he shows up armed to buy machine guns.

“I’m concerned about that dichotomy.”

Baverman said he is concerned that Harris might be a flight risk. He said he wants to look into the monitoring service recommended by the defense attorney, and will ask for $2 million in cash for the bail bond, and for Harris to pledge the equity in both his houses, valued at $1.5 million.

Baverman said he will rule on whether he will grant bail for Harris on October 26.

Harris, 27, was arrested in a federal sting Saturday just hours before he was scheduled to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards. His bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to the rapper, according to a Justice Department statement.

At the hearing, Harris’ attorneys attempted to show that he was not a flight risk by asking Harris’ relatives to stand. Around 35 people stood.

In addition, six record executives were present, including Lyor Cohen, chairman and CEO of U.S. Recorded Music for the Warner Music Group, as well as the president of Atlantic Records. The record executives spoke in support of Harris’ bail application and pledged up to $2.2 million in signature bonds on Harris’ behalf. The signature bonds would guarantee Harris would show up for trial or the executives would forfeit the $2.2 million.

After the hearing Harris’ attorney, Steve Sadow, said he had no quarrel with the judge’s deliberations “because he’s a man who is taking his job very seriously and there are positions on both sides that are conflicting. So he’s doing what he’s supposed to do and that’s all we can ask.”

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Amy Winehouse Arrested For Marijuana Possession

MTV.COM–Amy Winehouse’s attempt to get her career back on track after an alleged drug overdose in August hit a snag on Thursday, when she and husband Blake Fielder-Civil were arrested in Norway for marijuana possession. The Associated Press reports that the couple and an unnamed third person were arrested shortly after 6 p.m. at a hotel in Bergen, Norway, after the police received a tip. All three were held overnight and released at around 7 a.m. Friday (October 19) after paying approximately $715 in fines.

“They were found with 7 grams [about one-fourth of an ounce] of marijuana,” said Prosecutor Lars Morten Lothe. “She’s paid the fine, so this thing is over for us now.”

Winehouse, 24, is just starting a European tour and is slated to perform in Oslo on Saturday, before heading to the Netherlands on Monday for another show.

The U.K.’s Times Online reported that the marijuana was not found on the singer or her husband, but in their hotel room.

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Charges Dropped Against Beanie Sigel

Beanie Sigel has beaten another rap. Prosecutors withdrew charges yesterday against the rapper, whose real name is Dwight Grant, after he resolved a dispute over a rental car he had kept long past its return date.

“We’re satisfied with the way the D.A.’s Office handled the case,” said Sigel’s attorney, Fortunato N. Perri Jr. He said there were no further outstanding charges against his client.

Sigel, 33, of South Philadelphia, was dressed in a brown shirt and pants as he appeared at his 9 a.m. preliminary hearing at 55th and Pine Streets before Municipal Court Judge Frank Brady.

Perri said that an employee with Payless Car Rental told the court that there had been a “misunderstanding” and that the agency wanted to drop the charges.

Payless, which continued to charge Grant’s credit card, reported the car stolen on Sept. 6, nearly a month after it was due to be returned on Aug. 13. Sigel paid the nearly $5,000 he owed for holding the 2007 Nissan Altima past its deadline.

Perri helped Sigel beat an attempted-murder rap in August 2005, a month after he left federal prison on a gun charge. He was also briefly jailed in late 2005 for failing to pay $27,000 in child support.

T.I. Heads Back to Court

Rapper T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., is scheduled for a 10:30 bond hearing at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Atlanta.

Earlier this week, a grand jury passed down three indictments against Harris. He is charged with possessing unregistered machine guns and silencers, unlawfully possessing machine guns, and being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said ATF agents didn’t target the famous rapper, but that’s where the evidence led them. Investigators say Harris asked his bodyguard to buy machine guns and silencers for him. Other guns were allegedly found in Harris’ College Park home.

Friday’s bond hearing before United States Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman is expected to draw a large crowd. After fans and media packed the courtroom during Harris’ initial appearance, plans have been made to move the bond hearing to a bigger courtroom.

Foxy Brown Update: Lawyer drops case after wife is threatened

The defense lawyer for rapper Foxy Brown was scared off her case after his wife was threatened by a mystery man in the lobby of their Brooklyn building, the Daily News has learned.

Attorney Alan Stutman, who was representing the diminutive diva on felony assault charges, asked off the case after the bizarre incident, which occurred Friday night.

Stutman’s wife told police that a man she did not know got out of a silver car and confronted her in the lobby.

“How can a beautiful woman like you be beaten up?” he asked and then fled.

Brown, 28, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was arraigned on an indictment that charges her with belting a Brooklyn neighbor with her BlackBerry in July.

Snoop gets community service

US rapper Snoop Dogg will pick up rubbish and perform other park maintenance duties for carrying an illegal weapon in an airport last year, authorities in California have said.

The artist, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr, will do “everything from raking leaves to painting benches” in order to meet the 160 hours of community service he was ordered to perform, said his attorney, Donald Etra.

“He’s glad to make a contribution to Orange County,” the attorney said.

Broadus chose the Orange County park site from a list of probation-approved community service sites and will be supervised by a park ranger, county prosecutor Andre Manssourian said.

A judge approved the park service. County officials declined to release the name of the park, citing concerns that media and fans might interfere.

The 35-year-old rapper pleaded guilty last month to felony possession of a dangerous weapon.

He was arrested on September 27, 2006, after the discovery of a collapsible baton in his computer bag at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

Broadus said the baton was a prop for a video he was filming in New York.

The felony conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanour if the rapper does not break the law for a year.

Employee of 50 Cent faces assault, gun charges

HARTFORD, Conn. – An employee of 50 Cent was arrested on assault and gun charges after he allegedly pistol-whipped a nightclub promoter who refused to announce an after-party at the rapper’s Farmington mansion, police said.

Dwayne “Hove” McKenzie, 26, who police said lives at the mansion, allegedly assaulted the Hartford promoter last week and was found four days later with a 9 mm Glock and another handgun.

McKenzie lost his right to carry a gun last August, when police said he fired shots after he was robbed of a $100,000 necklace outside a Hartford nightclub.

His attorney, Gerald M. Klein, said he was in the process of trying to get McKenzie’s pistol permit back when he was arrested Sunday.

Klein said Tuesday that McKenzie had no criminal record.

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C-Murder to be re-tried on murder charge

NEW ORLEANS — The rapper sometimes known as C-Murder will be tried a second time on a second-degree murder charge in February.

Corey Miller’s Feb. 11 trial date was set during a telephone conference with prosecutors and defense attorneys, Judge Martha Sassone said in court Tuesday.

Miller, 36, is accused of shooting to death Steve Thomas, 16, at a Harvey nightclub on Jan. 12, 2002. The teen had used a fake ID to get into the club to see the rapper, whom family members said Thomas idolized.

Although Miller changed nicknames from “C-Murder” to “C-Miller” after he was charged with murder, his byline for the novel Death Around the Corner is “Corey Miller a.k.a. C-Murder”.

Sassone said she had approved trips which Miller made in July to New York and last week to Mississippi, although her approval was not documented in the clerk of court’s electronic database until Monday.

Clerk of Court Jon Gegenheimer will file an affidavit to explain why the records were not posted sooner on the database, called JeffNet. “The court is not responsible for the filing and imaging of the documents,” Sassone said.

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Foxy Brown in court for ‘mobile phone assault’

Foxy Brown was singing a different tune when she showed up in court four days after refusing to appear to face assault charges.

The 28-year-old rapper, who is serving a year at Rikers Island prison for violating probation, arrived at Brooklyn State Supreme Court wearing casual street clothing.

She pleaded not guilty to charges that she threw a mobile phone at a neighbour who complained about the volume of her car radio.

The plea was entered by her lawyer, John Sampson, the district attorney’s office said.

Last Friday, Brown twice refused to appear in court for her arraignment.

Prosecutors rescheduled her appearance for yesterday, warning that if she refused to show up, the court would issue an order allowing correction officers to put her in handcuffs and force her onto a bus.

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