NEWS - DMX Arrested On Christmas Eve

12/26/2002

(12/26/02, 6 p.m. ET) -- Rapper and actor DMX (Earl Simmons) was arrested on Christmas Eve (December 24) in Harrison, New York, when police officers observed the rapper allegedly making an unsafe lane change in his black Chevrolet Suburban on the Hutchinson River Parkway.

After police officers pulled the rapper over at 2:30 p.m. ET, he provided the officers with incorrect information when he was asked for his license and registration. DMX was then arrested, and charged with failure to signal a lane change and possession of a forged instrument.

DMX was later released. The rapper's publicist was unavailable for comment.

DMX's Christmas Eve arrest was the latest in a string of arrests. The rapper served 11 days in the Eric County Correctional Facility in March of 2001 for driving without a license.

DMX was initially pulled over on March 3, 2000, for speeding along the Kensington Freeway in upstate New York. At that time he was also cited with failing to signal a lane change, driving with a suspended permit, and possession of marijuana. The rapper then missed his scheduled March 23, 2000, court date for the traffic charges, prompting a warrant to be issued for his arrest. He turned himself in a week later and subsequently pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of driving without a license. New York's Cheektowaga Town Justice Ronald E. Kmiotek sentenced the rapper to the maximum 15-day jail term and $400 in fines

In March of 2002, DMX was sentenced to a year of probation, several hefty fines totaling $28,000, and mandatory participation in a Humane Society campaign against animal cruelty in Hackensack, New Jersey. The sentencing finalized a plea agreement reached by DMX's lawyer Brian Neary and Bergen County Assistant Prosecutor Ike Gavzy. The case, which was initially headed to trial, stalled after DMX's mother-in-law Marcia Tate refused to cooperate with authorities.

The plea agreement allowed DMX and his wife Tashera Simmons to avoid jail time after the rapper pleaded guilty to the charges of cruelty to animals, maintaining of a public nuisance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. All the charges against Tashera Simmons were dropped while the more serious weapons and child-endangerment charges were dropped against DMX.

Police had gone to the Simmons home on June 27, 1999, while investigating the shooting of DMX's manager and uncle Ray Copeland--who was shot in the foot--after finding a purse containing Tashera Simmons's identification at the scene of the crime. They found a loaded 9mm gun, six used glass cocaine-smoking pipes, and a large amount of ammunition. In addition, the police found 13 pit bulls in cages that were full of feces, rotting garbage, and some marijuana in a second-floor bathroom.

Police also found the couple's 6-year-old son and 15-year-old cousin in the home, and subsequently indicted DMX and his wife on the charges of possessing a weapon for an unlawful purpose, endangering the welfare of a child, possession of a high-capacity magazine, possession of hollow-point ammunition, cruelty to animals, and several petty offenses in August 1999.

In related news, DMX will star opposite Jet Li in Cradle 2 The Grave, which is scheduled for release on February 28. In Cradle 2 The Grave, DMX plays the leader of a band of thieves who turns to Li's Taiwanese Intelligence officer to rescue his daughter, who has been kidnapped and is being held in exchange for a load of diamonds. The film also stars Tom Arnold (True Lies), Gabrielle Union (Bring It On), and Kelly Hu.

DMX recently released "X Gonna Give It To Ya," as the first single from the soundtrack to Cradle 2 The Grave, which will be released on February 11.

-- Yves Erwin Salomon, New York

LAUNCH.com

wtf man, that sucks...these fukin cops shoulda given him a damn break...he was only changing a lane with no signal.....everyone does that