Some trouble on the homefront for Russell Simmons.
The rap mogul's wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, was arrested in Saddle River, New Jersey, Sunday night and charged with marijuana possession and reckless driving.
Simmons, 29, the dynamo designer of the Baby Phat fashion line and a fixture on America's Next Top Model, was taken into police custody after she allegedly "made no attempt to stop" when officers spotted her driving with a faulty taillight.
Department spokesman Robert Breese says that officers finally caught up with Kimona when she arrived at the mansion she shares with her multimillionaire hubby.
A subsequent search of her vehicle turned up a small amount of pot and she was booked on possession of marijuana (less than 50 grams), careless driving, operating a vehicle while possessing a controlled substance, tailgating and having a taillight out.
Simmons, whose sultry naked bod graces a Times Square billboard, was handcuffed and taken to the station to be fingerprinted and have her mug shot taken.
The ex-model's lawyer, Stacey Richman, who has represented such hip-hop superstars as Jay-Z and Shyne, defended her client in a statement today.
"It's our perception that this is just another example of a prominent member of the hip hop community being made an example of," Richman said. "The Simmons family is extremely involved in their community and this is an attempt to denigrate Kimora's good name and that of her family. We deny any wrongdoing whatsoever."
That sentiment was echoed by Russell Simmons. In an interview with the New York Daily News while attending the Democratic National Convention in Boston, the 46-year-old Def Jam cofounder lashed out at the authorities, accusing them of going overboard.
"My wife is an excellent driver, and she's not guilty of any crime," he said. "You don't have to grab my wife and put handcuffs on her. Her wrists are all bruised up."
Simmons devotes much of his time to political and social causes, and he has crusaded against racial profiling and New York's Rockefeller drug laws, which critics say overly penalize people for possessing even the smallest amounts of pot.
Added Simmons: "I may be the biggest taxpayer in Bergen County, but I'm not looking for anything special. I just want to be treated fairly."
But the local P.D. rejects such claims.
"We've never had any complaints about racial profiling against these officers," Breese said.
The Daily News quotes a source close to the Simmonses saying didn't immediately pull over not to evade police, but "because she was on a road with no shoulder" and "drove till she found a place where she could pull over."
Furthermore, the unidentified source said the officers' search was conducted illegally and that the weed was actually found in a bag belonging to one of Simmons' passengers.
The Simmonses wed in 1998 and shortly thereafter launched his urban clothing label, Phat Farm, along with Baby Phat for women. Since then, he's worked to make his wife into a household name. Aside from the sexy Times Square ad and her recurring role on Top Model, the twosome are developing a line of cosmetics, perfumes and jewelry.
No word on a court date.