Rapper Too Short has been charged with four misdemeanors in connection with his recent DUI arrest.
The West Coast legend — whose real name is Todd Anthony Shaw — was stopped by police officers around 3 am on March 20 as part of a random drunken driving check. He spoke with the officers calmly at first, but started to run away after they tried to administer a breathalyzer test. They quickly caught up with him, and charged him with DuI and drug possession. The arresting officers claimed he tried to dump drugs in the back of a police cruiser.
A few days later, Too Short dodged a felony drug possession charge after the Los Angeles County District Attorney rejected the case. It was noted that the arresting officers found a minuscule amount of drugs in the rapper’s vehicle and, since Too Short doesn’t have a felony record, the D.A. decided not to press charges for the drugs found in the car. The 46-year-old claimed the drugs were not his, but belonged to the last person who was in the police car.
According to TMZ , Too Short was charged Friday with two counts of DUI, one count of possession of a controlled substance, and one count of possession of marijuana or an open container while driving. A hearing is scheduled for April 15.
Too Short is one of the pioneers of West Coast hip-hop. He released his first album, Don’t Stop Rappin’ , in 1983, but it wasn’t until 1987 that he released his first studio album, Born to Mack . The album sold more than 50,000 copies and was certified gold.
Two years later, his album Life Is… Too Short , went double platinum, selling over 2 million copies. The album remains his highest-selling record. Since then, he has released 14 more albums, including his most recent, 2012’s No Trespassing .
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