Lawyer says Suge Knight was behind wheel in deadly crash
FILE
- In this Oct. 30, 2014 file photo, rap music mogul Marion "Suge"
Knight appears in court on a traffic warrant, in Las Vegas following his
arrest as a fugitive in a California robbery case. A lawyer for Knight
says the Death Row Records founder was at the wheel of a car that struck
two men, killing one, in a Los Angeles suburb. The accident in Compton
occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Photo/John
Locher, File)
COMPTON, Calif. (AP) — Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight accidentally ran over and killed a friend and injured another man on Thursday as he fled attackers, his lawyer said. Authorities said the incident was being investigated as a homicide.
Report: Suge Knight Runs Over, Kills Man Following Argument
Knight, 49, planned to turn himself in to authorities and "we are confident that once the investigation is completed, he will be totally exonerated," attorney James Blatt said by telephone.
A red pickup truck struck the men at around 3 p.m. PST in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in the Los Angeles-area city of Compton and then took off, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. John Corina told reporters. He said the incident is being investigated as a homicide.
**
FILE ** In this Feb. 26, 2003 file photo, rap music mogul Marion "Suge"
Knight, walks out of the Los Angeles County jail in Los Angeles. Knight
appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014, and was
ordered to return to court on Jan. 27, 2015, for the next hearing in a
felony robbery case filed after a celebrity photographer reported that
he stole her camera in September. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
"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 intentional act," he said.
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.
FILE
- In this Aug. 15, 1996, file photo, rapper Tupac Shakur, left, and a
founder of Death Row Records, Marion "Suge" Knight, attend a voter
registration event in South Central Los Angeles. A lawyer for Knight
says he was at the wheel of a car involved in an accident in a Los
Angeles suburb. It occurred in Compton shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday,
Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Photo/Frank Wiese, File)
The empty truck was found late Thursday night in a West Los Angeles parking lot, Corina said.
Corina said investigators didn't have any witnesses who said Knight was driving it, but the rap mogul was seen driving a red pickup truck 20 minutes earlier in a different part of town where a video was being shot.
FILE
- In this Oct. 30, 2014 file photo, rap music mogul Marion "Suge"
Knight appears in court on a traffic warrant, in Las Vegas following his
arrest as a fugitive in a California robbery case. A lawyer for Knight
says the Death Row Records founder was at the wheel of a car that struck
two men, killing one, in a Los Angeles suburb. The accident in Compton
occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Photo/John
Locher, File)
Knight got into some kind of argument at the earlier location and drove off, he said.
Witnesses said another argument developed at the restaurant parking lot before the accident, Corina.
Blatt said it was an accident.
"He was in the process of being physically assaulted by two men and in an effort to escape he unfortunately hit two (other) individuals," the lawyer said. "He was in his car trying to escape."
Los
Angeles County Sheriffs close the scene of an accident in Compton,
Calif., Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. A lawyer for Marion "Suge" Knight, a
Death Row Records founder, says Knight was driving a vehicle involved in
an accident. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Blatt said Knight would negotiate to surrender but did not indicate when that would happen and said he had not yet spoken to Knight.
Compton has been immortalized in hip-hop folklore, including on many of the records Knight released, as a gritty and violent urban environment, though crime has dipped significantly there since its 1990s peak.
A
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigator photographs the
scene of an accident at a parking lot in Compton, Calif., Thursday, Jan.
29, 2015. A lawyer for Marion "Suge" Knight, a Death Row Records
founder, says Knight was driving a car involved in an accident. (AP
Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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 in prison.
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.
___
Robert Jablon contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
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