Ja Rule, Savion Glover Busted for Pot
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rapper Ja Rule (search) and tap dance sensation Savion Glover (search) were charged Thursday with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and driving without licenses in unrelated incidents.
Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, was pulled over at 2:19 a.m. in his 2001 Mercedes-Benz on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village (search) after police spotted him changing lanes without signaling, police spokesman Sgt. John Grimpel said.
The officers found a small amount of marijuana in his possession, Grimpel said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Glover, the star of the Tony Award-winning musical "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk (search)," was pulled over in his 1997 BMW at 1:10 p.m. on Houston Street in lower Manhattan after making three lane changes without signaling, Grimpel said.
Glover also had a small amount of marijuana in his possession, Grimpel said.
Ja Rule, 28, of Saddle River, N.J., pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended license before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Shondia Simpson and paid $550 in fines and court fees. The misdemeanor possession charge apparently was dropped.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prosecutors told the judge that the rapper had an open warrant in Queens from June 7, 1996, for resisting arrest. The judge ordered him to appear in Queens Criminal Court on July 7 to respond to that warrant.
Ja Rule and his lawyer refused to comment after the hearing.
Glover, 30, appeared before the same judge. He had told police that "I have a bag of marijuana in my left pocket," prosecutors said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The judge released the tap dancer on his own recognizance and ordered him to return to court Aug. 18.
Glover refused to comment after his hearing.
In 1996, Glover pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct after he was accused of carrying three small bags of marijuana in his truck. The case was dismissed after he completed 50 hours of community service.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Glover, a native of Montclair, N.J., was a regular on "Sesame Street" and starred in the Spike Lee movie "Bamboozled."
Ja Rule, the deep-throated, multiplatinum rapper from Hollis, Queens, also has acted in several movies, including "The Fast and the Furious" and "Half Past Dead."