Rapper the Game was arrested this week in New York after telling a cab driver that he was an undercover police officer and persuading the driver to run a series of red lights, police said.
The 26-year-old, whose real name is Jayceon Taylor, allegedly picked up a livery cab Thursday night shortly after he appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman." The cabbie drove about 13 blocks before he was pulled over. Taylor faces a charge of impersonating a police officer, police Sgt. Kevin Hayes said.
His lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, denied the accusation, saying police had been tailing his client throughout his stay in New York and that the cabbie was a terrible driver.
"This is really a new low even for the NYPD," Lichtman said. "It's a big joke to harass him and other members of the hip-hop community, and ultimately arresting him. Let's see how funny they think it is during the cross-examinations of this trial." The rapper was told to appear in court on Dec. 12, Lichtman said.
In an unrelated case, a partner in the recording studio started by the Game was arrested for allegedly laundering money for gangsters. Authorities on Friday charged John "Johnny Hooks" Abbey, 38, with laundering more than $100,000 for the 9 Tre Gangsters, a faction of the Bloods street gang that police say deals drugs and guns throughout New Jersey.
Police also searched the Atlantic City recording studio, called Black Wall Street East, as well as a house in Little Egg Harbor owned by Abbey and a construction company that Abbey has invested in, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Saturday.
The state Division of Criminal Justice director, Gregory Paw, would not say whether authorities suspect the Game to be involved in any wrongdoing.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The 26-year-old, whose real name is Jayceon Taylor, allegedly picked up a livery cab Thursday night shortly after he appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman." The cabbie drove about 13 blocks before he was pulled over. Taylor faces a charge of impersonating a police officer, police Sgt. Kevin Hayes said.
His lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, denied the accusation, saying police had been tailing his client throughout his stay in New York and that the cabbie was a terrible driver.
"This is really a new low even for the NYPD," Lichtman said. "It's a big joke to harass him and other members of the hip-hop community, and ultimately arresting him. Let's see how funny they think it is during the cross-examinations of this trial." The rapper was told to appear in court on Dec. 12, Lichtman said.
In an unrelated case, a partner in the recording studio started by the Game was arrested for allegedly laundering money for gangsters. Authorities on Friday charged John "Johnny Hooks" Abbey, 38, with laundering more than $100,000 for the 9 Tre Gangsters, a faction of the Bloods street gang that police say deals drugs and guns throughout New Jersey.
Police also searched the Atlantic City recording studio, called Black Wall Street East, as well as a house in Little Egg Harbor owned by Abbey and a construction company that Abbey has invested in, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Saturday.
The state Division of Criminal Justice director, Gregory Paw, would not say whether authorities suspect the Game to be involved in any wrongdoing.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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