DMX Arrested Yet Again

07/03/08 12:32pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

If we could give an award to someone for the most arrests in a week, we'd probably give it to DMX or Pete Doherty. Doperty's largely stayed out of trouble since he got out of jail this last time, but trouble seems to have re-attached itself to DMX, and he can't really shake it.

DMX (real name Earl Simmons) was arrested on Wednesday when his flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. touched down in his home state of Arizona. He was heading home to face animal cruelty charges which stem from an arrest in May. The 37-year-old was also arrested twice in Florida last week, which was why the Arizona cops were waiting for him.

"He was supposed to be in court today in Arizona, but he was picked up as soon as he arrived," DMX's lawyer, Murray Richman, told MTV News. "The arrest was the result of him being arrested in Florida. That arrest violated the strict conditions of his $7,500 bond in Arizona, which stated that he could not be arrested while on bail."

DMX was arrested in Miami on Friday after he allegedly tried to buy cocaine and marijuana. He was arrested earlier that week for driving with a suspended license. This string of arrests led Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to tell TMZ.com that DMX "never learns his lesson" and that he would be happy to "get the rapper into a pair of pink underwear in his Tent City jail."

DMX is in custody for failure to appear in court, failure to pay fines and driving with a suspended license. He's being held on a $1,075 U.S. bond for the latter charge and another $10,000 bond for allegedly trying to buy drugs. This means DMX will likely be behind bars until the animal cruelty case goes to court, which could be several months from now.

DMX was arrested in May and charged with animal cruelty after a police raid on his home last year. Then, authorities discovered what they said were mistreated pit bulls and the remains of several pit bulls — some of which were charred — in his backyard. They also said they found several more neglected pit bull puppies in May. Richman says the rapper's recent arrest spree doesn't bode well for DMX in the case.

"I believed that we had a good, viable defense in that [animal cruelty] case, but I'm sorry to say that Earl played into their hands when he got arrested for driving without a license and for being in a drug-prone area, which violated the terms of his bail," Murray told MTV News. "It's very upsetting after eight years of working and trying to keep him out of trouble to have him caught up for this nonsense."

On top of this, DMX is being forced to auction off a $1 million townhouse he owns in New York City's Harlem neighbourhood. Amusing Diversions sued DMX after he wouldn't appear in one of their commercials for their Boomer 129 dog clothing line. The company asked DMX to appear in their ads after they saw a public service announcement that he was ordered to make after he was convicted of animal cruelty in 2002.