L.E. Baskow
William Jonathan Drayton, Jr., aka Flavor Flav, appears before Judge Kathy Hardcastle at the Regional Justice Center on Monday, April 14, 2014.
Published Monday, April 14, 2014 | 9:06 a.m.
Updated Monday, April 14, 2014 | 1:43 p.m.
Rapper and reality star Flavor Flav pleaded guilty this morning to charges stemming from a 2012 incident in which he was accused of chasing and threatening his longtime girlfriend’s teenage son with a butcher knife.
The artist, whose legal name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., 55, originally faced felony charges, but he accepted a deal today that downgraded the charges to misdemeanor counts of attempted battery that could have caused substantial injury and battery constituting domestic violence.
Under the agreement, Drayton will forgo trial but must complete a year of informal probation and take a dozen class sessions on domestic violence prevention along with the teen he reportedly threatened.
The Oct. 17, 2012, incident began as a spat between Drayton and his fiancee at their Las Vegas home over cheating allegations, according to a Metro Police incident report. The fight turned physical and Drayton twice threw the woman to the ground, ripping out one of her earrings during the scuffle, police said.
The woman reportedly told police her 17-year-old son confronted Drayton, and the pair began fighting. Drayton, the woman told police, grabbed two knives from the kitchen, began chasing the teen and threatened to kill him. The boy ran upstairs to a room and locked himself and his sister inside, police said.
Drayton, still holding both knives, kicked the door open and made additional threats to kill the 17-year-old, according to police.
Had he not accepted the deal, Drayton faced trial April 28 on felony assault and child endangerment charges punishable by up to 12 years in prison. He's due to appear in Clark County District Court on Aug. 18 for a status check on adhering to the requirements of the plea deal.
Clark County property records list Drayton and his girlfriend as co-owners of the house in the 7800 block of Via Ventura Court since 2008.
Drayton is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hip-hop act Public Enemy and has starred in the reality TV shows “Flavor of Love,” “The Surreal Life” and “Strange Life." Flavor Flav's signature style includes an oversized clock dangling from a chain around his neck.
He has lived in Las Vegas for the past 10 years, according to Sun archives.
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