Busta Rhymes accused of assault

Rapper Busta Rhymes was arrested in New York after a man complained that the hip-hop star had beaten him up in a dispute over money, police said.

Rhymes, 34, turned himself in and was questioned over a misdemeanour assault charge at a Manhattan police station last night, police Lieutenant John Grimpel said.

The rapper was to be taken to court overnight, Grimpel said.

Grimpel said a man told police that Rhymes had punched and kicked him numerous times in a confrontation outside a lower Manhattan building on December 26.

The man, whose name was not released, was treated at a hospital after the incident, Grimpel said.

A message left at the New York office of Rhymes’ manager, Violator Management, was not immediately returned.

The arrest marks the latest in a string of legal tangles for Rhymes, who was born Trevor Smith.

He was charged with assault after an August 12 performance at the AmsterJam Music Festival on Randalls Island. He was ticketed in November after police said he was seen talking on his mobile phone while driving past a Manhattan police station.

Police have also sought to question Rhymes as a potential witness in the shooting dead of his bodyguard Israel Ramirez last February.

Rhymes’ hits include Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See, Dangerous and Touch It. He has also appeared in films, including 2000’s Shaft and Finding Forrester.