Gunfire triggers rapper Rick Ross crash, police say

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="cnnByline" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By <strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Alan Duke</strong>, CNN From: <a href="http://www.cnn.com/" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.cnn.com</a></div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">updated 7:52 PM EST, Mon January 28, 2013</div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Rapper Rick Ross performs at the Beats by Dr. Dre CES after-party in Las Vegas on January 10." src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130128194432-rick-ross-ces-story-top.jpg" /></div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Rapper Rick Ross performs at the Beats by Dr. Dre CES after-party in Las Vegas on January 10</span></div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Los Angeles (CNN)</strong> -- "Teflon Don" rapper Rick Ross crashed his silver Rolls Royce into an apartment building after he heard gunfire along a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, street Monday morning, police said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"The driver of the Rolls Royce attempted to drive away from the direction of the shots being fired and lost control of the vehicle, striking a nearby apartment building," Fort Lauderdale Police Detective DeAnna Garcia said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ross and a female passenger were not hurt by the wreck or the gunshots, Garcia said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"The suspects fled from the area prior to police arrival," she said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The incident, however, called attention to threats against the artist's life made in a street gang's videos and posted online in recent months.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We're pulling up on you," a man who identified himself as a member of the Gangster Disciples warned in one of the videos. "Whatever city, whatever state, the pressure on."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Several videos purporting to be from Gangster Disciple members in several states -- including Georgia, North Carolina and Florida -- appeared on YouTube late last year demanding that Ross pay a fee to them for his use of the Star of David, which they claim as a gang symbol, and a reference to one of their founders in his music and marketing.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"You got to cut the check," one video said. "Tell your boss man he got to get that check, or all you in trouble."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We need that cash right now," another said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ross, 37, whose albums include "Teflon Don" in 2010 and "Deeper Than Rap" a year earlier, told south Florida radio station 99 Jamz last month that he was not intimidated by the threats.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Ain't never no checks getting cut," he said. "I don't play those games. I consider that extortion."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/05/showbiz/rapper-nas-turns-40/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Is Nas hip-hop's finest MC?</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ross did cancel his North Carolina shows last month just days after a video appeared online threatening his life if he performed there.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Never was it due to any threats," he told the radio station. Instead, he canceled because "the promoter wasn't really handling his business."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ross wanted to make certain that listeners understood he was not frightened. "Don't ever get it twisted, Ricky Ross is the boss," he said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The death threats are not the only challenge to Ross. A former drug lord and gang leader is suing in a Los Angeles court, accusing him of stealing his name and reputation.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"The reality is I want justice done," the original Ross wrote in an e-mail to CNN. "I know that he took his name and image from my life and believe he is unfairly profiting off my story."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ricky "Freeway" Ross was serving a prison sentence a decade ago when rapper William Roberts, who previously worked as a Florida correctional officer, adopted "Rick Ross" as his stage name, according to the lawsuit.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"This rapper and his labels clearly knew of my name and story, and have tried to suck out the lifeblood without license," the former drug lord said. "I have my own use for my intellectual property and did not need this confusion created."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">More recently, the rapper has been using the name "Ricky Rozay."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The rapper and his record label have not responded to CNN's request for comment.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite the death threats and legal issues, his music is doing well. Ross is nominated for a best rap album Grammy for his latest release, "God Forgives, I Don't."</div></div></div>

Gunfire triggers Gunfire triggers rapper Rick Ross crash, police say

By  Alan Duke , CNN From:  http://www.cnn.com updated 7:52 PM EST, Mon January 28, 2013 Rapper Rick Ross performs at the Beats by Dr. Dre CE...

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