Crime & Safety

Oh Boy: Cops Nab Flavor Flav on Long Island for Driving with 16 Suspensions

Rapper William Drayton was arrested on a felony charge on the way to his mother's funeral on Thursday morning.

Flavor Flav was busted Thursday morning on his native Long Island, but even the "911 Is a Joke" rapper must have been thankful troopers let him go to his mother's funeral.

William Drayton, Public Enemy's hype man, was stopped when New York State Police said they saw him speeding in a Hyundai on the southbound side of the Meadowbrook State Parkway, near the Southern State Parkway, in Hempstead at about 9:30 a.m. They reported clocking him going 79 mph in a 55 mph zone.

Then, they discovered the 54-year-old's license had been suspended 16 times. He also had a small amount of marijuana on him.

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He was arrested and charged with felony aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and traffic violations.

"Drayton was released on an appearance ticket in order to allow him to attend his mother's funeral," the Valley Stream troopers said in a statement.

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On New Year's Eve, he Tweeted that his mother, Anna Drayton, had passed away.

Currently a Las Vegas resident, Drayton is originally from Freeport.

He will have to answer the charges in Nassau County First District Court in Hempstead.

Drayton has a long criminal history, including arrests on attempted murder, domestic violence, cocaine and marijuana charges, dating back to 1991.

Over the past decade, he has been best known for stints in a reality television, including "The Surreal Life," "Strange Love," "Flavor of Love," and, most recently, "Couples Therapy." 


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