Coolio Arrested on Old Warrant
Singer Coolio was arrested Tuesday 10 June 2008 on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for driving with a suspended license, Los Angeles police said.
Rapper Coolio says his arrest could have been prevented if doorman at Hollywood’s One Sunset venue had let him into the club.
Early this morning—just moments after he had been denied entry to One Sunset—the "Gangsta’s Paradise" performer, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr., was pulled over by police for a minor traffic violation.
When officers ran a background check on Coolio and his 1996 Hummer, they saw there was a warrant out for his arrest. Police took him into custody for allegedly driving on a suspended license.
But the hip-hop star, 44, who was released from jail hours later, claims the arrest was big mix-up because he’d recently gotten his drivers license back.
And he says he is innocent, claiming the warrant, which was issued in San Bernadino, Calif., was a "mistake."
He tells TMZ.com, "That’s life (not being let into the club). I think it’s ‘cos I’m too dark. I know quite a few people that didn’t get into One Sunset.
If I’d been let in, maybe I wouldn’t have gone to jail. So I’m pissed off about that. But it is what it is. Black people gotta go through a lot of adversity, so I’m used to it. I’m from Compton."
"I had a warrant I didn’t even know I had. I just got my license back a few days ago, so how the hell I got a warrant from 2001? But this from San Bernadino; they make a few mistakes out there… ."
