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Rapper Combs Charged in Miami Beach
April 15, 2001 12:36 pm EST

MIAMI BEACH (Reuters) - Hip-hop superstar Sean Combs, cleared last month of gun possession and bribery charges in a highly publicized nightclub shooting case, is in trouble with the law again.
Combs, 31, was pulled over for allegedly making an illegal lane change while driving a scooter along Miami Beach's glitzy Ocean Drive on Saturday night.

Police charged him with driving with a suspended license. He was not jailed but signed a "promise to appear" form for a court date, Sgt. Robert Hundevadt said. The date has yet to be set.

Combs was stopped on Tuesday for allegedly speeding in Golden Beach, Florida, and found to have a suspended New York driver's license. He said then he was unaware the license had been suspended.

On March 16, a jury in Manhattan found the millionaire rapper and producer not guilty of criminal charges in connection with a December 1999 New York nightclub shooting that left three people wounded.

He was cleared of gun possession and bribery charges that could have earned him a 15-year prison sentence.

The jury did find Combs' associate Jamaal "Shyne" Barrow, who admitted firing his gun in the nightclub, guilty of assault and reckless endangerment, Combs' bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones was cleared, like Combs, of bribery and gun possession.

The artist, until recently the boyfriend of singer-actress Jennifer Lopez, had been known as "Puff Daddy." But after the New York case he announced he was changing his nickname to "P.Diddy."

The Grammy winner has built a multimillion-dollar music and clothing empire and is known for throwing lavish parties for the rich and famous.

After his acquittal in March, he vowed to keep a low profile for a while.

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