Saturday, February 16, 2008
Chinese actress
faces shoplifting charge
LOS ANGELES — Bai Ling’s good looks and eccentric outfits have frequently put her picture in celebrity magazines, but that doesn’t mean she can take the magazines for free.
The Chinese actress was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of shoplifting two celebrity magazines and two packets of batteries at Los Angeles International Airport. The items had a total value of $16, said Sgt. Jim Holcomb of the airport’s police department. The 41-year-old actress was detained by a store employee who summoned police, Holcomb said. She was booked for investigation of misdemeanor shoplifting and released after agreeing to appear in court on March 5. Ling has appeared in such films as “The Crow” and “Anna and the King” and in the TV series “Lost.”
Rapper sentenced
for harassing boy
NEW YORK — G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo was sentenced Thursday to 10 days of community service after pleading guilty to harassment of a recording rival’s 14-year-old son. Yayo, whose real name is Marvin Bernard, admitted in Manhattan Criminal Court that on March 20, 2007, he got out of a sport utility vehicle and “glared” at James Rosemond Jr. in a way that was “meant to threaten physical violence.” The 29-year-old Bernard, an associate of rapper 50 Cent, initially was accused of slapping the boy, who is the son of Cynthia Reed and Jimmy “Henchman” Rosemond, Czar Entertainment executive and manager of one of Bernard’s rivals, The Game. Bernard’s lawyer, Scott Leemon, filed court papers in January that showed that Bernard’s acquaintance, Lowell Fletcher, had told police it was he who slapped the boy and Yayo pulled him away.
Fletcher’s lawyer, Robert Macedonio, confirmed in January that police say his client gave them a statement that seemed to clear Yayo. It said in part: “Fletcher saw a young boy wearing a Czar Entertainment T-shirt. Fletcher further stated that he slapped the boy across the face and began to grab the boy’s shirt. At this point Marvin Bernard exited the vehicle, tried to restrain him [Fletcher] and get him back in the vehicle.”
Bernard pleaded guilty to a violation, a lesser offense than a misdemeanor. He will do his community service at the Book Bank Foundation, an organization that promotes literacy. Fletcher pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child for grabbing the teen. He received a nine-month jail sentence.
Today’s birthdays
Singer Patty Andrews is 90. Kim Jong Il, the president of North Korea, is 66. Actor Jeremy Bulloch is 62. Actor Pete Postlethwaite is 62. Actor William Katt is 57. Actor LeVar Burton is 51. Actor-rapper Ice-T is 50. Tennis Hall of Fame player John McEnroe is 49. Rock musician Andy Taylor is 47. Rock musician Dave Lombardo (Slayer) is 43. Rock musician Taylor Hawkins (Foofighters) is 36. Singer Sam Salter is 30. Rapper Lupe Fiasco is 26. Actor Mike Weinberg is 15.