Too Short Charged After DUI Arrest

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.

[Photo credit: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com]