Charges Against Diddy Dropped in UCLA Arrest

02 Jul, 2015

Los Angeles County prosecutors have declined to charge rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs with felony assault and battery on a UCLA intern and an assistant football coach during a dispute over the singer’s son, a player on the Bruins squad.

Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, said prosecutors declined to file felony charges related to his June 22 arrest. The case was referred to the Los Angeles city attorney to decide whether Combs’ conduct amounts to a misdemeanor. The prosecutors received the case Tuesday.

UCLA police arrested Combs on suspicion of three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, making criminal threats and battery after he reportedly swung a kettlebell weight during a confrontation at a UCLA gym.

Combs posted $160,000 bond within hours of his arrest following the reported skirmish with strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi. The performer has adamantly denied that he was in the wrong, saying he defended himself.

“What we can say now is that any actions taken by Mr. Combs were solely defensive in nature to protect himself and his son,” a spokeswoman for the rapper and producer said in a statement.

The confrontation reportedly happened after Alosi, dissatisfied with the younger Combs’ effort during a voluntary summer workout, told the little-used junior defensive back to get off the field, not just for the rest of the day but for the rest of the summer.

Later that afternoon, the younger Combs and his father walked into Alosi’s office, adjacent to the 15,000-square-foot weight room in the Acosta Athletic Complex’s basement. Alosi was on the phone. He motioned for the visitors to wait.

The encounter reportedly became heated at some point. In one version of it, Alosi reportedly tried to fend off an angry Combs, who left his shirt torn.

Sources say the dispute spilled out of Alosi’s office and drew the attention of four or five unpaid interns who work in and around the weight room.

Combs allegedly grabbed a kettlebell — a handled, heavyweight ball — off a shelf and swung it. A security camera in the weight room captured that part of the incident.

UCLA has declined to release a detailed account of the incident.

“We are thankful that the district attorney rejected felony charges in this matter,” said Mark Geragos, attorney for Combs. “This case never should have been part of the criminal justice system to begin with.”

LA Times

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