[Breaking news update, published at 7:20 a.m. ET]
Former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with a Thursday hit-and-run that killed a man in Compton, California, authorities said Friday. He is being held with bail set at $2 million.
[Original story, published at 5:37 a.m. ET]
Suge Knight suspected of driving over 2 men in fatal hit-and-run
Former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight has seen his share of legal troubles. But if the allegations against him for an incident Thursday prove true, the convicted felon could find himself behind bars for a long, long time.
Police in Los Angeles say a man matching Knight’s description drove over two men with his red pick up truck — and then drove over them again as he sped away from the scene.
One man died; the other’s condition wasn’t disclosed.
“So far, people we talked to said it looked like it was an intentional act. So we’re handling it as a homicide,” Los Angeles Police Lt. John Corina said.
The hit-and-run stemmed from an argument Knight allegedly had on the set of the N.W.A. biopic “Straight Outta Compton” and then spilled over to the parking lot of Tam’s Burgers.
“A red pickup truck is involved in this, and those people were also at the other altercation, so yes, it all suggests that he was the person driving that truck,” Corina said.
Police say Knight allegedly tracked the two men to the lot.
“It looks like he drove backward and struck the victims. And then went forward and struck them again as he left,” Corina said.
Officers later found Knight’s Ford Raptor abandoned in Westwood. Early Friday morning, Knight, accompanied by his lawyer, turned himself in at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station where he was being interviewed by homicide detectives.
Reached by CNN, Los Angeles-based attorney James Blatt declined to confirm to CNN whether Knight was driving.
The deceased victim has been identified as Terry Carter, 55. The second victim is Cle Sloan, 51.
Series of run-ins
Knight founded the wildly successful Death Row Records in 1991, signing artists such as Snoop Doggy Dogg (since then known as Snoop Dogg and Snoop Lion) and Tupac Shakur.
But then his fortunes began to dwindle with a series of run-ins with the law.
Knight was driving the car in which Shakur was a passenger when the rapper was shot to death in Las Vegas in 1996.
Shortly afterward, Knight spent several years in prison for violating parole on assault and weapons convictions. That prison time — along with Shakur’s death, feuds between Knight and a number of rappers and desertions by Dr. Dre, Snoop and others — contributed to the label’s bankruptcy in 2006.
In August, Knight and two other people were shot while inside a celebrity-filled Sunset Strip party hosted by singer Chris Brown on the eve of the MTV Video Music Awards.
In October, he was busted along with comedian Micah “Katt” Williams for allegedly stealing a photographer’s camera.
“Straight Outta Compton,” the movie set where the argument began Thursday, chronicles the rise of N.W.A, one of the most controversial rap acts of all time.