Busta Rhymes gets busted yet again. This time for driving his SUV around Tribeca without a valid driver’s license, afterwards prosecutors let him fester behind bars for 18 hours before arraigning him. Officers who pulled him over were willing to give Busta, aka Trevor Smith, an appearance ticket and a warning, but the Manhattan district attorney’s office had other ideas and had him locked up.
One law enforcement official told the New York Daily News, “The disrespect for the law, when he has cases pending, is over the line.”
Smith, 34, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license and a related violation, and was released on his own recognizance shortly before 11 p.m.
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Prosecutors said Smith told investigators he may have been a bit testy with the arresting officers because he thought they were holdup men posing as the police.
At the time of his arrest, prosecutors said, Rhymes snarled, “You know me. You know who I am. You don’t mean shit. You hide behind the shield. This is bullshit.”
A few minutes later, he changed his tune and told cops he had “no idea” his license had been suspended and asked, “Can you help me out?”
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Busta is facing a slew of charges, stemming from two assault charges which he was given a “sweetheart plea offer”: six months in jail or six months of anger-management classes and speaking to kids. Judge Abraham Clott said yesterday’s charges would be combined with the assault cases. Rhymes was spotted by cops as he blew a red light in Tribeca about 5:20 a.m. yesterday, sources said. Police followed his 2006 GMC Suburban and stopped him at Warren St. and West Broadway. A computer check showed his license had been suspended Jan. 8 for ignoring a summons.
His bodyguard, Israel Ramirez, was shot dead outside a Brooklyn recording studio during a video shoot.
Rhymes has refused to cooperate with the investigation or tell police what he knows about the slaying, cops said.
