North Carolina police officers Hien Nguyen, Matthew Brown, Ryan Childrey, Romaine Watkins and David Gregory have filed a defamation lawsuit against The Game, claiming they were libeled, slandered and had their images misappropriated by the rapper following his arrest last year at a mall.
Each seeking more than $10,000 in damages, the officers filed the lawsuit at the Guilford County Courthouse last week against the artist and his associates.
The lawsuit stems from comments The Game made during a TV interview in which he compared his treatment by arresting officers to that of Rodney King and claimed he was arrested for signing autographs.
The lawsuit also takes issue with the distribution of a video of the officers during the arrest. A Web site promoting the DVD claims it shows the Compton rapper "being wrongfully arrested and brutalized by the police in North Carolina."
One officer claims he lost $7,500 in off-duty pay because he was afraid of returning to work at the mall.
The Game ran afoul of mall security officers on Oct. 28, 2005 when he was allegedly cursing loudly while wearing a full-face Halloween mask. After refusing to leave at their request, they called in the police.
When police arrived, the rapper continued his alleged erratic behavior and was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Other members of the Game’s entourage were sprayed with pepper spray when they surrounded the officers in a threatening manner, police said. The incident was captured on videotape by a member of the group and is available on the Internet.
In other Game news, the rapper says it was concerned family members who urged him to move out of his neighborhood in Compton and into the suburbs of Glendale for the welfare of his son Harlem.
He said: "I never thought I'd leave my 'hood. My mother and grandmother kept beating it into my head: 'You have a baby boy and you're still out on the block with him? What the fuckk is wrong with you? You're five times platinum.' Once my thick skull was cracked by reality, I decided to relocate my family. Now, I'm like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”
Each seeking more than $10,000 in damages, the officers filed the lawsuit at the Guilford County Courthouse last week against the artist and his associates.
The lawsuit stems from comments The Game made during a TV interview in which he compared his treatment by arresting officers to that of Rodney King and claimed he was arrested for signing autographs.
The lawsuit also takes issue with the distribution of a video of the officers during the arrest. A Web site promoting the DVD claims it shows the Compton rapper "being wrongfully arrested and brutalized by the police in North Carolina."
One officer claims he lost $7,500 in off-duty pay because he was afraid of returning to work at the mall.
The Game ran afoul of mall security officers on Oct. 28, 2005 when he was allegedly cursing loudly while wearing a full-face Halloween mask. After refusing to leave at their request, they called in the police.
When police arrived, the rapper continued his alleged erratic behavior and was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Other members of the Game’s entourage were sprayed with pepper spray when they surrounded the officers in a threatening manner, police said. The incident was captured on videotape by a member of the group and is available on the Internet.
In other Game news, the rapper says it was concerned family members who urged him to move out of his neighborhood in Compton and into the suburbs of Glendale for the welfare of his son Harlem.
He said: "I never thought I'd leave my 'hood. My mother and grandmother kept beating it into my head: 'You have a baby boy and you're still out on the block with him? What the fuckk is wrong with you? You're five times platinum.' Once my thick skull was cracked by reality, I decided to relocate my family. Now, I'm like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”
