Singer Takes Rap for Gun Charges; Must Make a Video

Rap music star Vanilla Ice pleaded no contest Friday to a weapons violation stemming from a confrontation with a transient in Studio City and was ordered to make a public service video and pay a $1,782 fine.

Robert Van Winkle (the singer’s real name) also was placed on two years unsupervised probation for his plea--the legal equivalent of a guilty plea--to a charge of allowing a car passenger to possess a gun.

The 23-year-old singer did not attend the session at which the plea bargain negotiated by his attorney and prosecutors was entered into the record.

Van Nuys Municipal Judge Alan E. Ellis told the singer’s attorney, Robert Shapiro, that in lieu of the video, the rap star could donate $10,000 to homeless shelters.

Shapiro said outside of court that the singer is “anxious to make an anti-drug video and will take that option.”

According to court records, Van Winkle, bodyguard Aaron Eric Martin, 22, and two other men were sitting in a 1991 Jeep Cherokee at 2 a.m. June 3 outside a 24-hour grocery store in Studio City when transient James Gregory tried to sell them a silver chain.

Gregory, 36, told police that Van Winkle and Martin brandished pistols and chased him away. Gregory said he thought the supermarket was being robbed and called police.

Police responding to Gregory’s call found one pistol being carried by Martin, whom they apprehended leaving the store, and found another pistol hidden inside the vehicle.

Van Winkle was charged with possessing a loaded weapon, possessing a concealed weapon in public and allowing a car passenger to possess a gun. If he had been convicted on all counts, he could have been sentenced to two years in prison.

Martin was charged with possession of a loaded weapon and carrying a concealed weapon in public. He also pleaded no contest Friday to the possession charge, and was fined $500 and placed on two years unsupervised probation.