Police arrest West at airport

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kanye West and one of his bodyguards were arrested Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport after an altercation with paparazzi in which the rapper allegedly smashed a camera on the floor.
Airport police arrested West and his road manager, Don Crowley, who also serves as a bodyguard, on suspicion of felony vandalism shortly before 8 a.m., LAX spokesman Marshall Lowe said. He said early reports indicated that a camera valued at more than $10,000 was broken.
The incident happened before West and his bodyguard passed a security checkpoint at an airport terminal that houses American Airlines. The pair were scheduled to board a flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, Lowe said.
West’s publicist declined to comment Thursday.
The arrest was first reported by TMZ, which posted video showing a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt, identified by the celebrity gossip site as West. The man throws a camera to the ground.
Another man in a red jacket grabs the shooter holding the video camera. The next frames show security intervening.
TMZ reported that it was its videographer who was attacked.
Lowe said police were interviewing witnesses and that West and Crowley will be booked at a Los Angeles Police Department station in Culver City.
West closed the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, which was held at Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood.
The singer has a history of flaring his temper. After not winning any awards at the VMAs in 2007 despite several nominations, West declared he would never return to MTV and yelled at reporters.
The year before, he crashed the stage at the MTV Europe Music Awards and unleashed an expletive-filed tirade after his video “Touch The Sky” failed to win an award.


Published in The Messenger 9.12.08

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