Former rap music mogul Suge Knight was arrested today on suspicion of murder after allegedly running two men over in Compton intentionally, killing one.
Knight was being held in lieu of bail of $2 million, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Trina Schrader said.
The hit-and-run occurred around 2:55 p.m. Thursday when Knight allegedly drove his pickup truck backward and forward over two men in the parking lot of a fast food outlet. One of the men died, and the other was hospitalized in unknown condition.
The victims were identified by TMZ and The Hollywood Reporter as 55 year- old Terry Carter, the man who was killed, and 51 year-old Cle Stone. Carter was described by TMZ as a friend of Knight’s.
Knight’s attorney, James Blatt, said his client had been at the wheel of the pickup when the accident occurred. The pickup was later found in a Westwood parking lot.
Sheriff’s Homicide Det. Lt. John Corina, said the hit-and-run was a homicide investigation.
Knight and Blatt arrived at the Sheriff’s West Hollywood station in a black Mercedes around 12:45 a.m. today, a news videographer reported from the scene. Schrader said Knight was placed under arrest around 3 a.m.
The hit-and-run occurred in the parking lot of Tam’s Burgers in the 1200 block of West Rosecrans Avenue, near Central Avenue.
Corina told the Los Angeles Times that Knight earlier got into an argument at the scene of a video shoot in Compton. The Times reported that the shoot was associated with “Straight Out of Compton,” a biopic of the Compton rap group N.W.A. Knight followed the men to the eatery 20 minutes later and ran them over in its parking lot, he said.
Corina said witnesses described the truck hitting the men, then reversing over them.
“We are handling it as a homicide,” Corina told reporters at the location.
Knight is awaiting trial on a robbery charge stemming from the alleged theft of a camera from a paparazzo in Beverly Hills in September. He is charged in that case along with comedian Micah “Katt” Williams.
