USA: RAP SINGER SEAN "PUFFY" COMBS IS CHARGED WITH GUN OFFENCE AFTER FLEEING NEW YORK NIGHT CLUB SHOOTING WITH JENNIFER LOPEZ

Record ID: 388824

  • Title: USA: RAP SINGER SEAN "PUFFY" COMBS IS CHARGED WITH GUN OFFENCE AFTER FLEEING NEW YORK NIGHT CLUB SHOOTING WITH JENNIFER LOPEZ
  • Date: 27th December 1999
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 27, 1999)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) THREE OTHERS ACCUSED WITH PUFFY LEAVE PRECINCT PUFFY GETS INTO POLICE VAN HANDCUFFED WEARING WHITE PARKA AND KEEPING HIS FACE CONCEALED FROM CAMERAS POLICE VAN DRIVES AWAY JENNIFER LOPEZ IN CAR LEAVING POLICE STATION (SOUNDBITE) (English) LARRY RUGGERIO, LAWYER FOR JENNIFER LOPEZ: "Jennifer ha
  • Embargoed: 11th January 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA9XLJ7C1ZLQQCAUCCQ96IYN2NO
  • Story Text: Rap artist Sean 'Puffy' Combs was charged in connection with a gun found in his vehicle after allegedly fleeing a nightclub shootout.His girlfriend, Latin singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, was released without charge.
    Combs was arraigned on charges of criminal possession of a weapon and released on $10,000 bail.At a hearing set for Feb.14, he will learn if he has been indicted.
    "I do not own a gun.I do not carry a gun.The charges and allegations against me are 100 percent false, I feel confident that in the next couple of days, I will be vindicated and everything will be all right," Combs said outside Manhattan Criminal Court.
    The shooting incident took place at Club New York on West 43rd Street in Manhattan shortly before 3 a.m.EST (0800 GMT) on Monday, when Combs got into an argument with a group of people inside the club, prosecutors said.
    According to the criminal complaint, someone in that group threw a stack of money at Combs, and the rapper and Jamal Barrow, a member of his entourage, pulled out semiautomatic weapons.
    Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos said Barrow repeatedly fired in the direction of the person who threw the money as the person fled the club.
    Barrow, 19, was arrested at the scene of the shootout after police recovered a 9 mm gun from his waistband, Bogdanos said.Barrow was charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment.
    Combs faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the weapons charges.His bodyguard and driver were also arraigned on weapons charges.
    Police said Combs' girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, had been charged with criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property.
    Later, however, a police spokesman said the district attorney had decided not to prosecute her at this time.
    "Jennifer has been released.She's not been charged,"
    Lopez's lawyer, Larry Ruggiero, told reporters outside the police precinct house where the two were questioned.
    "The prosecutors have conducted a thorough investigation.
    She had nothing to do with any gun.Nothing to do with any shooting," he said.
    In the shootout, a woman was shot in the face.She was later listed in stable condition at a local hospital.Two men struck in the shoulder were also reported to be in stable condition.
    Lopez, 29, and Combs, 30, were taken into custody after a 1999 Lincoln Navigator sports utility vehicle carrying them and the rapper's bodyguard and driver allegedly sped away from the club.
    The prosecutor said the vehicle eluded police during a high-speed chase on Eighth Avenue, going through at least 11 red lights until being forced off the street by a police car.
    A second 9 mm handgun was found on the floor of the car, according to the criminal complaint.It described the weapon as loaded and unlicensed.
    Bogdanos said a third gun had not been recovered.
    Combs; his bodyguard, Anthony Jones, 34; and the driver, Wardel Fenderson, 41, are not suspects in the shooting, police said.
    At least one witness saw Combs pull out a gun at the club, Bogdanos said.
    Combs and Lopez were held most of Monday (December 27, 1999) for questioning, following a shooting incident at a Manhattan night club.
    New York-born Combs, also known as "Puff Daddy," is one of the biggest names in hip hop.A talented rapper and businessman, he popularised the East Coast sound of rap along with Christopher Wallace, also known as "Notorious B.I.G." or "Biggie Smalls," who was killed in 1997 in a Los Angeles drive-by shooting.
    One of Combs' biggest hits, "I'll Be Missing You," was a tribute to Wallace.Combs also funds and oversees Daddy's Social House Programmes for inner-city youth.
    In September, Combs, accused of assaulting a record company executive in a dispute over a music video, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree harassment.He was sentenced to participate in a one-day anger-management programme.
    Lopez made her breakthrough playing the lead role in 1997's "Selena," a biographical movie about a murdered Tejano singer.It won Lopez a Golden Globe nomination as best actress of the year.
    She has starred in several other movies, including "Out of Sight" with George Clooney.This year, she released a Latin pop album, "On the 6," which went platinum in two months.
    Dan Klores, a spokesman for Combs, said the gun did not belong to either Combs or Lopez.He told reporters that the two were "a mere victim of circumstance" and were "fleeing a life-threatening situation.
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