Rapper to Be Arraigned on Body Armor Charges

Rap singer Russell Jones, who was allegedly involved in a shootout with New York police in January, will be arraigned Wednesday in what may be the first prosecution under a new California law prohibiting the use of body armor by violent felons.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office says that Jones--who performs with the Wu-Tang Clan under the name of ODB--was convicted of felonious second-degree assault in 1993 in connection with an attack on a man in a bar in Richmond, N.Y.

Jones, 29, was arrested Jan. 15 in New York City and booked on suspicion of attempted murder. Police said that after they stopped his vehicle because of defective headlights, he and another man got out and started shooting at them. No one was injured.

In November, he was arrested in New York after allegedly threatening a woman friend. He is also scheduled to go on trial here later this year on charges that he made terrorist threats in Santa Monica and Compton.

Jones was stopped by police in Hollywood on Feb. 16 after officers noticed that he had been parked in a red zone. Officers said he was arrested because he did not have a driver’s license. It was then that they discovered that he was wearing a bulletproof vest, the officers said.