West Arrested On Vandalism Charges

Hip-hop star KANYE WEST has been arrested in Los Angeles on charges of felony vandalism after a heated confrontation with photographers at the city’s international airport.

West was taken into custody at LAX airport on Thursday (11Sep08) after a photographer’s camera was reportedly smashed to the ground during the struggle.

According to celebrity website TMZ.com, a still photographer was attempting to take pictures of the rapper at the American Airlines terminal when he was confronted by the star.

According to a TMZ videographer, “West rushed the (photographer) and grabbed his camera. A struggle ensued and the still guy was screaming, ‘Police, help!'”

The website reports West took the camera and threw it to the ground, breaking it into pieces.

The videographer reportedly approached West with his camera rolling when the rapper’s bodyguard walked up to him, demanding he hand over the camera.

West’s assistant allegedly intervened, grabbing the equipment and smashing it to the ground.

West was reportedly stopped by police before reaching security checkpoints in an attempt to board his plane after the confrontation.

He was allegedly restrained by authorities during the initial police investigation, when he discovered the incident had been recorded, shouting, “Give me the f**king videotape.”

West and his assistant are being held on $20,000 (#10,811) bail.

(JMA/WNWCZM/ZN)

Responses

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  1. Kristen wrote: I saw the video for this on the news it was crazyyy! I wouldn’t doubt something like this would happen every once in a while though..

  2. Alexa wrote: Oh wow that sounds pretty crazy. Although I can understand why it would happen. Something like that always happens at some point. It sucks that celebs don’t get the privacy they should.

  3. Taminar wrote: The paparazzi are way too bold and rude. Sometimes I think the stars respond too violently, but they are pushed to it. The in-your-face photographers and videographers have to expect this kind of reaction.

  4. heroesgirl wrote: i am so tired of kanye west. he always acts like he’s better than everybody else. i could see him attacking someone with a camera even if they weren’t taking pictures of him. he just thinks he’s so important that they would want to take his pic.