Snoop almost sneaks weapon on plane
Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: News
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SANTA ANA, Calif. - Orange County, Calif., prosecutors are considering whether to file charges against rapper Snoop Dogg for trying to bring a 21-inch retractable baton past security gates at John Wayne Airport last month.
A federal screener found the baton, which collapses to 8 inches, tucked in a laptop bag Snoop Dogg - whose real name is Calvin Broadus - was trying to carry on a San Francisco-bound flight Sept. 27, Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.
"He told us he was going to use it for an upcoming rapper video," Amormino said.
Deputies confiscated the baton, which one of many items banned from carry-on baggage on U.S. flights, and booked it in to evidence.
Snoop Dogg, who was traveling with two bodyguards, was not arrested and was allowed to catch his flight, Amormino said.
Sheriff's investigators gave their case to the Orange County District Attorney's office for review Friday.
Prosecutors should decide by the end of the week whether charges will be filed, District Attorney spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.
Snoop Dogg, 35, has been banned from flying on British Airways after he and five others fought with police and threw liquor bottles from a duty-free shop at London's Heathrow Airport in April.
Snoop Dogg admitted starting the brawl after some members of his entourage were kept out of the British Airways' first-class lounge.
An officer's hand was broken and six other officers received cuts and bruises in the brawl. Snoop Dogg and five others were arrested and charged with "violent disorder and affray."
Snoop Dogg, who sold more than 5 million copies of his 1993 album "Doggystyle," has a long history of encounters with the law, including gun and drug charges.
In 1996, with the help of celebrity defense attorney Johnnie Cochran, Snoop Dogg was acquitted of being an accessory to murder after a member of his entourage gunned down an alleged gang member with Snoop Dogg in the car.
Calls to Snoop Dogg's publicist were not immediately returned.
A federal screener found the baton, which collapses to 8 inches, tucked in a laptop bag Snoop Dogg - whose real name is Calvin Broadus - was trying to carry on a San Francisco-bound flight Sept. 27, Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.
"He told us he was going to use it for an upcoming rapper video," Amormino said.
Deputies confiscated the baton, which one of many items banned from carry-on baggage on U.S. flights, and booked it in to evidence.
Snoop Dogg, who was traveling with two bodyguards, was not arrested and was allowed to catch his flight, Amormino said.
Sheriff's investigators gave their case to the Orange County District Attorney's office for review Friday.
Prosecutors should decide by the end of the week whether charges will be filed, District Attorney spokeswoman Farrah Emami said.
Snoop Dogg, 35, has been banned from flying on British Airways after he and five others fought with police and threw liquor bottles from a duty-free shop at London's Heathrow Airport in April.
Snoop Dogg admitted starting the brawl after some members of his entourage were kept out of the British Airways' first-class lounge.
An officer's hand was broken and six other officers received cuts and bruises in the brawl. Snoop Dogg and five others were arrested and charged with "violent disorder and affray."
Snoop Dogg, who sold more than 5 million copies of his 1993 album "Doggystyle," has a long history of encounters with the law, including gun and drug charges.
In 1996, with the help of celebrity defense attorney Johnnie Cochran, Snoop Dogg was acquitted of being an accessory to murder after a member of his entourage gunned down an alleged gang member with Snoop Dogg in the car.
Calls to Snoop Dogg's publicist were not immediately returned.