Busta Rhymes was arrested and charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon on Saturday after his performance at the AmsterJam Festival in New York.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department told MTV News that Rhymes (real



name: Trevor Smith Jr.) was arrested in connection with an incident that occurred at 4 a.m. on August 12 in the Chelsea district of New York. The spokesperson, Detective Madelyne Galindo, said she could not specify what the weapon was or who was assaulted in the incident. Several news outlets reported Sunday (August 20) that Rhymes, 34, had allegedly assaulted a man who spat at his car; The New York Post reported that police had found a machete in the rapper's vehicle.

While details of that incident remain unclear, New York's Daily News reported that police used the opportunity to question Rhymes about the February 5 slaying of his bodyguard, Israel Ramirez, outside the set of the rapper's "Touch It" video, citing an unidentified source. Rhymes has come under intense criticism for refusing to cooperate with police investigations into the murder (see "Busta Rhymes Issues Statement On Bodyguard Shooting").

"I don't know if this is normally something he would even be arrested for," the News quoted its source as saying. "But his bouncer was killed and he didn't want to cooperate. This is our way of dealing with it."

Rhymes was arraigned on the charge on Sunday morning. The News reported that two members of Rhymes' entourage were also taken into custody and were released with Rhymes after being held for several hours. A spokesperson for the district attorney's office had not returned MTV News' calls for comment at press time, nor had Rhymes' label and management company.

The News reported that Rhymes was arrested at around 8 p.m. Saturday after performing at the concert, which also featured LL Cool J, the Foo Fighters, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and others.

The incident was the most recent in what has been a troubled year for Rhymes, who was previously noted for his ability to avoid violence. Amid the controversy over the Ramirez slaying, a fan filed suit against Rhymes in March for allegedly assaulting him (see "Busta Rhymes Hit With Assault Suit By Autograph Seeker").

[This story was originally published on 08.20.2006 at 12:55 p.m. ET]

— Jem Aswad, with additional reporting by Gil Kaufman

mtv.com

Damn, looks like he took that Halloween: Resurrection role a bit too seriously.

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