50 Cent Charged With Domestic Violence
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rapper and actor 50 Cent was arrested after he allegedly attacked his ex-girlfriend and trashed her Los Angeles condo.
The 37-year-old "In da Club" singer, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, was charged with domestic violence and four counts of vandalism in papers filed Monday. If convicted, he faces up to five years in jail and $46,000 in fines.
A representative for Jackson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jackson had already left when officers arrived June 23 at a Toluca Lake condo belonging to a woman who had a baby with him, police said.
During an argument, the woman told police, Jackson began destroying her property before she locked herself into her bedroom. The woman said Jackson kicked open the bedroom door and kicked her, causing injury.
Police said they estimated about $7,100 in damage to the woman's home. They observed many broken items in the ransacked and clothes-strewn condo, including chandeliers, furniture and a television.
The woman told police she had been in a three-year relationship with Jackson.
"Regardless of perceived celebrity or notoriety, domestic violence is a serious crime and alleged perpetrators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by this office," said city attorney Mike Feuer.
The Queens-reared rapper has referenced drug-dealing and violence in many songs, and is known for having survived nine gunshots in an attempted assassination.
Jackson has also worked as an actor in recent years. He starred in an autobiographical account of his life as a drug dealer in "Get Rich or Die Tryin'."
Jackson is due for arraignment July 22.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
