Man Who Fought With Shakur on Videotape Is Released

Prosecutors on Friday declined to file charges against a Lakewood man who scuffled with rap artist Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas hours before the rapper was shot.

Orlando Anderson, 22, was arrested in an early morning raid Wednesday for an unrelated murder at a Compton party in April. Deputy Dist. Atty. Janet Moore, the head of the district attorney’s hard-core gang unit in Compton, rejected the case presented by Compton police investigators. Anderson was released late Wednesday.

“We felt they needed to do some more work,” said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

Anderson was also arrested on suspicion of attempted murder stemming from a September incident that was part of what police described as a series of retaliatory attacks linked to the Shakur shooting. No charges were filed in that case either.

Anderson was seen fighting with Shakur on a security camera videotape from the MGM Grand Hotel, where the rap artist had attended the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon prizefight Sept. 7. Shakur was shot about two hours later as he sat in a car at a red light just off the Las Vegas Strip. He died six days later. Anderson’s attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment.