NEW YORK - Rapper 50 Cent was arrested for traffic offences while driving a silver, open-topped Lamborghini today, generating a crowd that cheered the recording artist and jeered police as they handcuffed him.
The rapper, whose given name is Curtis Jackson, was cited for making an unsafe lane change, driving
with an expired permit, driving without insurance and driving without a vehicle registration, a police spokesman said.
The 31-year-old recording artist was pulled over in Midtown Manhattan by plainclothes officers in an unmarked patrol car. At first he refused a police order to get out of the car, instead making a call on his cell phone, tourist Ian Parvess said.
"Eventually the cops opened the door. ... He just got out of the car and put his hands on the car and they put the cuffs on him," Parvess, who videotaped the arrest, told Reuters.
50 Cent, wearing a black baseball cap over a white do-rag and a shiny silver necklace over a white T-shirt, was taken to a police station and released soon after being given four summonses, a police spokeswoman said.
Spectators crowded around the scene outside the New Yorker Hotel, insulting police and breaking into a chorus of boos when the star was handcuffed.
The bullet-scarred, tattooed king of the hip-hop charts last year starred in a movie based on his life, Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
The movie's title is the same as his 2003 debut CD, which sold 7.6 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks record sales. His three albums have sold 13.7 million records overall.
New York-born Jackson, who took the name 50 Cent after of a fabled Brooklyn thief, became the first artist to have four songs in the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 since the Beatles in 1964.
His spokeswoman did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
- REUTERS
