Rappers charged in Los Angeles - 18 Sep 1998

LOS ANGELES - Two rappers have been arrested in separate incidents this week in the Los Angeles area -- Coolio on weapons and drug charges and Ol' Dirty Bastard on suspicion of threatening to kill security guards at a nightclub, police said Thursday.

Ol' Dirty Bastard, whose real name is Russell T. Jones, was taken into custody early Thursday morning after creating a disturbance at the House of Blues nightclub in West Hollywood, said Deputy Angie Prewitt, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Prewett said Jones -- who is also called Robert Diggs in a police report -- was ordered to leave the club, where he was watching a concert, because he was "drunk, disorderly and annoying other patrons."

As security guards ushered him out, Prewett said, Jones "threatened to return and shoot and kill them." Deputies called to the scene arrested Jones on charges of making terroristic threats and for an outstanding traffic warrant. He was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Prewett said the Grammy-winning Coolio, whose real name is Artis Ivey, was arrested Tuesday after a deputy saw him driving on the wrong side of the road through the Los Angeles suburb of Lawndale.

Ivey, who was driving with an expired California license, then admitted that he had a semiautomatic pistol and ammunition in the vehicle, Prewett said. The deputy searched the sports utility vehicle and found a ''small baggie'' of marijuana in addition to the weapon, Prewett said. Ivey was jailed on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and possession of marijuana, but released several hours later and ordered to appear for arraignment Oct. 21.

Jones, who performs under the name Ol' Dirty Bastard with the rap group Wu-Tang Clan, made headlines earlier this year when he was shot and wounded June 30 by gunmen who robbed his Brooklyn apartment.