Suge Knight Busted for Sin City Smackdown

Former rap mogul rung up on domestic violence, drug charges following Las Vegas incident

By Josh Grossberg, Whitney English Aug 27, 2008 8:57 PMTags
Suge KnightLas Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Marion "Suge" Knight's life is broken record at this point. Make that a series of bad raps.

The deposed Death Row Records kingpin was arrested early this morning in Las Vegas on drug and assault charges after allegedly beating up his girlfriend and threatening her with a knife.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, officers received a call at 6:39 a.m. about an out-of-control car on the Strip.

The 43-year-old Knight had allegedly been punching his girlfriend of three years in the head while he was driving, per the incident report. The woman, whose identity was not released, grabbed the steering wheel in an attempt to escape and the vehicle ran up against the curb, coming to a stop.

She then managed to flee the car on foot with the burly Knight in pursuit. Just as he caught up to her and brandished a knife at her, officers arrived, police tell E! News.

Knight was taken into custody and a search turned up the drugs Ecstasy and hydrocodone.

He was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription and battery domestic violence.

The girlfriend was transported to Spring Valley Hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries.

Sin City has not been kind to Knight. In September 1996, a surveillance camera at the MGM Grand Hotel caught him and Bloods gang members beating up a member of the rival Crips.

The incident occurred just hours before the Death Row founder and hip-hopster Tupac Shakur were attacked in a drive-by shooting. Shakur never recovered from his injuries.

Knight wound up doing prison time in the mid-'90s for repeated probation violations stemming from various convictions on weapons charges and other assorted crimes.

He recently declared bankruptcy, forcing the sale of Death Row, the seminal rap label he cofounded with Dr. Dre.

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