Suge Knight arrested in Las Vegas

Rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight was arrested in Las Vegas on Wednesday in connection with a robbery charge in California, continuing a history of run-ins with police in Clark County.

Metro picked Knight up as a fugitive and also on a warrant for having a suspended license. He was near the Strip close to the interection of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane, Las Vegas police said.

Knight and comedian Micah “Katt” Williams are suspects in a Beverly Hills robbery, according to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office. Authorities in Southern California said they stole a camera from a paparazzo Sept. 5 outside a studio.

Beverly Hills police spokesman Lt. Lincoln Hoshino said the celebrity photographer, a woman, suffered minor injuries when the camera was stolen.

Knight, 49, and Williams, 43, face one count each of robbery. Knight could face 30 years to life in prison, if convicted, the Los Angeles DA’s office said, because of a prior assault conviction. Williams could face up to seven years behind bars.

Williams also was arrested Wednesday, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said. Police took him into custody outside a courthouse in Inglewood, Calif., where he was appearing in a separate assault case.

Prosecutors will ask that bail be set at $1 million for Knight and $75,000 for Williams.

Knight became famous as co-founder of Death Row Records with Dr. Dre in 1991. He coached up-and-coming rappers such as Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg. He became well-known on the West Coast in the 1990s.

But problems that drew law enforcement, including in Las Vegas, gained him notoriety over the years.

Knight was behind the wheel of the car in which Shakur was riding when he was fatally shot near the Strip in 1996. The two had attended a boxing match at the MGM Grand. As Knight and Shakur approached the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, someone in a nearby car leaned out the window and fired on Knight’s BMW. Shakur was shot four times and died about a week later. Knight had a minor head injury, police said.

The FBI later released documents that hinted at ties between Shakur’s slaying and the killing of East Coast rapper Notorious B.I.G., with whom Shakur had feuded.

More recently, Knight was arrested in Las Vegas in 2012 on charges of outstanding traffic warrants, making an unsafe lane change and possessing an ounce or less of marijuana.

In 2008, Knight was arrested on drug charges, domestic abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. That came after he left Spearmint Rhino strip club on Highland Drive and fought physically with his girlfriend in a vehicle, police said. The pair got out of the vehicle, and Knight beat her in a parking lot, police said. Police said he had a knife but did not stab the woman.

Months ago, Knight was hospitalized after being shot at a Los Angeles nightclub. He was shot once before in 2005 at an MTV awards party.