Post by outgirl on May 14, 2004 9:43:12 GMT -5
Scuffle erupts during surprise 50 Cent Appearance
www.boston.com/news/local...ppearance/
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Police had to break up a shoving match at a club after the rapper 50 Cent and his entourage jumped from the stage during a surprise appearance and scuffled in the audience.
Two people were arrested for disturbing the peace during the incident in the Hippodrome club early Saturday morning, said Springfield Police Capt. Charles Arpin. Police were also investigating whether a nearby shooting was related.
Hippodrome co-owner Michael J. Barrasso told The Republican of Springfield that the concert sponsor, Hartford radio station WZMX-FM, had said the rap artist might make an unannounced appearance at the invitation-only hip-hop concert.
The crowd of 1,400 people did not know 50 Cent was there until he took the stage after the other acts. About 10 minutes after 50 Cent took the stage, someone in the crowd threw water at him from a cup or water bottle, Barrasso said.
"He removed his gold chain, handed it to someone on the stage next to him and jumped off the stage into the crowd," Barrasso said. The rapper's entourage, including bodyguards, also jumped off the stage.
The crowd was so dense Barrasso could not tell if there was any fighting beyond pushing. Security guards had frisked the rapper and his entourage behind the stage; the rapper was wearing a Gucci holster, but the weapon it held fired only rubber pellets, Barrasso said.
Security guards in front of the stage with two extra-duty police officers, pushed the rapper and his entourage back on stage, Barrasso said. Police working in the club called for available units.
"He finished the song, believe it or not," Barrasso said. "Then the whole entourage and him just rushed for the exit, got in their cars and left."
It took police about an hour to disperse the crowd. Police arrested Trevin Smith, 23, of Springfield, and Charlton McLaughlin, 27, of Hartford, who were each charged with disturbing the peace.
After the incident, a man walked into the Mercy Medical Center emergency room with a gunshot wound to the leg at just before 1 a.m., saying he's been shot minutes before about a block from the Main Street theater. Arpin said police are not certain if the shooting was related to the disturbance to the Hippodrome.
50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, bought a 52-room, 50,000-square-foot mansion in Farmington, Conn., last year from former boxing champion Mike Tyson's ex-wife, Monica Turner
