Kanye West Cleared of Felony Charges After Run In With Paparazzi at LAX
Kanye West, the 36-year-old rapper, is no longer the subject of a battery investigation, after the case was officially dropped Friday.
West was about to leave LAX airport last month when members of the paparazzi surrounded him to take pictures. One man is reported to have continually hounded West with questions, with the rapper telling him to stop, according to TMZ.
After the paparazzi refused to stop hounding the rapper, West turned and allegedly attacked the man, attempting to grab his camera equipment and wrestling him to the floor. West then left in a waiting vehicle with the incident captured by TMZ cameras.
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The photographer was treated at Marina del Rey Hospital in Los Angeles, Calif and released on the same day. Deputy District Attorney Amy-Hannah Broersma said the level of injuries did not warrant a felony charge to be brought against the rapper.
"(He) did not sustain significant injury," Broersma said, according to a KTLA news report.
The case had been transferred to the Robbery Homicide Unit after the paparazzi pressed charges against West. It was later referred to the L.A. County D.A.
Before the incident within the same month, West made headlines for a similar run-in with the paparazzi after he warned them not to speak to him.
"Don't talk to me! I don't want to hear paparazzi talk to me or anybody I know," West said to the paparazzi member. "Don't talk to me, at all and don't talk to anyone I know ... never talk!"
In June, the father who shares a new baby girl with reality television star Kim Kardashian snapped at photographers in a similar rant while out with his girlfriend's mother Kris Jenner. The X17Online photographer has said that he simply was wishing West well on his new bundle of joy, but the rapper did not want members of the paparazzi speaking to him.
"Don't say anything," West ordered, according to TMZ. "You know what I'm saying, don't talk to me!"
