Rap Artist Arrested After Neighbors Report Shots

A member of the Grammy-winning rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, who said he was shooting off fireworks in his yard, was arrested early Friday after police were called to the Chatsworth home by neighbors who reported shots being fired.

Stanley Howse, 24, also known as “Flesh-N-Bone,” a prolific songwriter and a founder of the quadruple-platinum-selling group, was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire station. Also held on the same bail was Howse’s brother-in-law, Jamartik Cole, 19, according to police and the group’s manager and lawyer. The rapper and his relative were arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal explosives.

“It’s unbelievable,” said the group’s manager, Gary Ballen. “As I understand it, it was fireworks for the Fourth of July. It just started a little early.”

The arrests, which occurred about 2 a.m., culminated weeks of tensions between occupants of the rented hacienda-style house and neighbors, who had complained about loud music and shots being fired day and night.

Police released few details. But Sgt. Kirk Wilder said, “There were guns. There were explosive devices.”

A police detective confirmed that the bomb squad was sent to the house in the 22300 block of Lassen Street shortly before 6 a.m., and spent the morning there.

The group’s advisors said they believe that the arrests and bail were excessive and expect that no charges will be filed.

“It’s not like he had bombs,” Ballen said. “He had big fireworks.” He added, “I’d like to know how many people getting arrested this weekend for fireworks will be held on half a million dollars’ bail.”

John K. Pierson, lawyer for the group, said he believed that the circumstances surrounding Howse’s arrest “were blown way out of proportion” and that the neighborhood tensions seem to be racial. Pierson said Howse, who is black, moved into the home in April and lives there with his wife, two children and several bodyguards. The neighborhood is quiet, affluent and predominantly white.

A woman who lives nearby described the new neighbors’ living situation as “a crash pad, with a rotating group of people.”

The fatal shootings of rap artists Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. have left other rappers “justifiably paranoid,” Ballen said.

The five members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony grew up together in Cleveland, selling crack cocaine for a living. Hoping to launch a music career, they boarded a bus for L.A. in 1993 to meet with late rapper Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, owner of Ruthless Records. They eventually got an audition in their hometown with the rapper, who immediately signed them.

Their music--hard-core rap and rhythm, with the smooth harmonies of contemporary R&B--has; resulted in hit releases on rap, pop and R&B; charts. They have tried to keep their names and birth dates a secret, going only by Flesh-N-Bone, who released a solo album on Def Jam this year, Layzie Bone, Krayzie Bone, Wish Bone and Bizzy Bone.

In 1997, the group won a Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group for its single “Tha Crossroads.”

Times staff writer Stephanie Stassel and correspondent Brett Collins contributed to this story.