Police are uncertain what happened and one officer said witnesses said Knight appeared to run over the men intentionally. But the lawyer for the 49-year-old founder of the Death Row Records label said his client was fleeing two other men and accidentally ran over his own friend and another man, killing the friend, injuring the other man.
His attorney told media that he is “confident that once the investigation is completed, he will be totally exonerated.” The incident occurred outside a fast food restaurant, in Compton, a suburb of L.A., at 3 p.m.
Knight, driving his red pick-up, is alleged to have backed up, running over the two men, and then gone into forward, running over them again. Police said the man who died was 55, the injured man 51. The injured man is expected to survive.
“Looks like he drove backwards and struck the victims and drove forwards and struck them again,” Lt. John Corina of the LAPD said. “The people we talked to say it looked like it was an intentional act.”
After running over the men, Knight is alleged to have driven off without getting out of his truck to check on the men. The truck was later found in a West L.A. neighborhood, empty.
“He was in the process of being physically assaulted by two men and in an effort to escape he unfortunately hit two (different) individuals,” the lawyer said. “He was in his car trying to escape.”
The rapper and record producer has an extensive list of prior run-ins with the law, including for armed robbery and assault with a weapon. Last summer he was shot six times by an unknown assailant.
