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- Jun 25, 2011
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COMPTON, Calif. (AP) - Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge"Knight turned himself into authorities early Friday after his attorney said therap mogul accidentally ran over and killed a friend and injured another man ashe fled attackers.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the incident was beinginvestigated as a homicide and that Knight was a person of interest.
In a brief statement released early Friday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Knight was at the West Hollywood station with his attorney andwas being interviewed by homicide detectives.
Officials say that a red pickup truck struck the men in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. A 55-year-old man died at a hospital and a 51-year-old man was injured but Corina did not immediately know his condition.
"We are confident that once the investigation is completed, he will betotally exonerated," attorney James Blatt said earlier by telephone.
Late Thursday, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. John Corina told reporters that the crash occurred around 3 p.m. PST in the parking lot of the restaurantin the Los Angeles-area city of Compton and then the driver took off.
"Looks like he drove backwards and struck the victims and drove forwards and struck them again," Corina said.
"The people we talked to say it looked like it was an intentionalact," he said.
The Sheriff's Department said in a statement that two people were in theparking lot when the red pick-up arrived and its driver became involved in anargument with them
"The argument escalated and the driver backed up striking one of thevictims. The driver then drove forward driving over both victims," thesheriff's statement said. "Various witnesses described the driver as beingMarion Suge Knight."
The empty truck was found late Thursday night in a West Los Angeles parkinglot, Corina said.
He said the rap mogul was seen driving a red pickup truck 20 minutes earlierin a different part of town where a video was being shot.
Witnesses also spoke of an argument.
"To see the argument happen, it's one thing," said 17-year-oldRobert Smith, who was eating in the restaurant. "Seeing the car incident,that was shocking."
Blatt said it was an accident.
"He was in the process of being physically assaulted by two men and inan effort to escape he unfortunately hit two (other) individuals," thelawyer said. "He was in his car trying to escape."
Blatt said Knight would negotiate to surrender but did not indicate when that would happen and said he had not yet spoken to Knight.
Knight founded Death Row Records, one of rap's leading labels, in the 1990s,releasing labels by artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur.
He later declared bankruptcy and the company was auctioned off.
Knight has a long history of run-ins with the law ranging from assaults to driving violations.
In November, he pleaded not guilty to a robbery charge filed over an incident in which a celebrity photographer accused him of stealing her camera in Beverly Hills. Because of prior convictions, he could face up to 30 years inprison.
He has prior felony convictions for armed robbery and assault with a gun. He pleaded no contest in 1995 and was sentenced to five years' probation for assaulting two rap entertainers at a Hollywood recording studio in 1992.
He also serve timed for probation violations.
Last August, Knight was shot six times at a Los Angeles nightclub. No arrests have been made.
Source: AP
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the incident was beinginvestigated as a homicide and that Knight was a person of interest.
In a brief statement released early Friday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Knight was at the West Hollywood station with his attorney andwas being interviewed by homicide detectives.
Officials say that a red pickup truck struck the men in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. A 55-year-old man died at a hospital and a 51-year-old man was injured but Corina did not immediately know his condition.
"We are confident that once the investigation is completed, he will betotally exonerated," attorney James Blatt said earlier by telephone.
Late Thursday, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. John Corina told reporters that the crash occurred around 3 p.m. PST in the parking lot of the restaurantin the Los Angeles-area city of Compton and then the driver took off.
"Looks like he drove backwards and struck the victims and drove forwards and struck them again," Corina said.
"The people we talked to say it looked like it was an intentionalact," he said.
The Sheriff's Department said in a statement that two people were in theparking lot when the red pick-up arrived and its driver became involved in anargument with them
"The argument escalated and the driver backed up striking one of thevictims. The driver then drove forward driving over both victims," thesheriff's statement said. "Various witnesses described the driver as beingMarion Suge Knight."
The empty truck was found late Thursday night in a West Los Angeles parkinglot, Corina said.
He said the rap mogul was seen driving a red pickup truck 20 minutes earlierin a different part of town where a video was being shot.
Witnesses also spoke of an argument.
"To see the argument happen, it's one thing," said 17-year-oldRobert Smith, who was eating in the restaurant. "Seeing the car incident,that was shocking."
Blatt said it was an accident.
"He was in the process of being physically assaulted by two men and inan effort to escape he unfortunately hit two (other) individuals," thelawyer said. "He was in his car trying to escape."
Blatt said Knight would negotiate to surrender but did not indicate when that would happen and said he had not yet spoken to Knight.
Knight founded Death Row Records, one of rap's leading labels, in the 1990s,releasing labels by artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur.
He later declared bankruptcy and the company was auctioned off.
Knight has a long history of run-ins with the law ranging from assaults to driving violations.
In November, he pleaded not guilty to a robbery charge filed over an incident in which a celebrity photographer accused him of stealing her camera in Beverly Hills. Because of prior convictions, he could face up to 30 years inprison.
He has prior felony convictions for armed robbery and assault with a gun. He pleaded no contest in 1995 and was sentenced to five years' probation for assaulting two rap entertainers at a Hollywood recording studio in 1992.
He also serve timed for probation violations.
Last August, Knight was shot six times at a Los Angeles nightclub. No arrests have been made.
Source: AP