Rapper Pleads Not Guilty to Body Armor Charge

Rap music star Russell Jones, popularly known as ODB of the Wu-Tang Clan, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he violated a new California law prohibiting violent felons from wearing body armor.

Jones, 29, whose stage nickname stands for Ol’ Dirty Bastard, was convicted of felonious second-degree assault in 1993 in connection with an attack on a man in a bar in Richmond, N.Y.

He was stopped by police in Hollywood on Feb. 16 for a traffic violation. Officers, however, noticed that Jones was wearing a bulletproof vest. A computer check revealed the felony conviction and Jones was arrested.

Jones’ arrest was believed to be the state’s first under a new “body armor possession” law, designed to protect police against well-equipped gunmen like those in the notorious North Hollywood shootout.

The arrest was only the latest in a string of brushes with the law for the rapper.

He was arrested in September 1998 for allegedly threatening three patrons at the House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard, and again two months later for allegedly threatening his former girlfriend in Compton, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Both cases are scheduled to go to trial later this year.

Jones was arrested in January in New York City after allegedly shooting at police who had pulled him over for defective headlights. No one was injured. A grand jury dismissed the case.

Municipal Court Judge Kevin Brown raised Jones’ bail to $115,000 and set his preliminary hearing for March 23.