DMX Busted at Home for Pot, Pit Bulls

DMX Busted at Home for Pot, Pit Bulls

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DMX apparently isn't one for facing the music of the night.

Three days after getting busted for a months-old traffic violation, the actor-rapper was arrested early Friday at his Phoenix-area home on suspicion of animal abuse and felony drug possession following a search of the house and, before that, a brief standoff with police when he attempted to shut himself up in his bedroom.

According to the Maricopa County sheriff's office, a SWAT team executed a search warrant on DMX's Cave Creek, Ariz., residence at about 3 a.m. in connection with a seven-month-old investigation into reports that the Cradle 2 the Grave star had a number of malnourished pit bulls on his property.

"A guy like this DMX character with all his money and fame has no excuse for not providing proper care for his animals," said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "He has a long criminal history and obviously has no respect for the law."

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, tried holing up in his room when the fuzz first arrived, but officers quickly talked him into cooperating, after which they discovered weapons, drugs and five pit bull puppies, which were taken to a nearby prison where female inmates will look after them (the pups, not the guns and drugs).

The rapper was subsequently booked into Fourth Avenue Jail and charged with seven misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and four counts of felony drug possession, per Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He's due in court May 15.

Meanwhile, DMX's attorney says the hassle at his client's home was unnecessary and that it may have been the hip-hop star's smart mouth that earned him a house call.

"His home was raided by Sheriff Joe allegedly in violation of not coming to court for a moving violation," lawyer Murray Richman told E! News. Authorities "broke the windows and knocked the door down with the SWAT team in order to effectuate the travel violations and arrested him for possession of marijuana.

"Bail was set for $7,500 and he's on his way out now."

Interestingly, Richman added, "they also charged him for the dogs from 10 months ago, even though he wasn't there.

"I think Earl, when he was caught on video just this week speeding at 114 miles per hour, just rubbed it in face, so the sheriff felt he had to do something. From what I hear, I would've been glad to bring Earl in if they ever requested it. I called the sheriff on numerous occasions and never, ever received a phone call."

Per the sheriff's office, DMX's Cave Creek home was raided in August after "numerous complaints came in concerning neglected animals on his property."

Following the initial search, 12 pit bull mixes were removed from the premises and taken to a veterinary ER to be treated for dehydration and malnutrition. Detectives also found the carcasses of three other dogs partially buried on site, as well as guns, ammunition, drugs and drug paraphernalia inside the house.

There was no comment on why it took so darn long to get from A to B, but Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said he will be prosecuting this case as he would any other.

"A person's celebrity status does not preclude this office from bringing charges against a defendant," he said. "We are handling this case as we would any other incident of animal cruelty."

DMX's Dogs Died Violently, Sheriff Says

Mon., Sep. 24, 2007 12:12 PM PDT

For now, authorities say DMX was no Michael Vick.

Postmortem exams performed on three canine carcasses found buried in the backyard of the rapper's Phoenix-area home revealed that two of the animals suffered grievous injuries before they died. But investigators have found no sufficient evidence suggesting DMX was involved in the kind of organized dog fighting, à la the scandal that engulfed, and possibly ended the career of, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback.

Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies raided the 36-year-old rapper's property in the suburb of Cave Creek on Aug. 24, after being tipped off about possible animal cruelty. The deputies evacuated 12 half starved pit bulls that had been caged without proper food and water in the desert heat.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department confirmed that necropsies showed one of the dead dogs sustained bite wounds, while another exhibited major trauma to its abdomen. The third animal was burned beyond recognition, preventing investigators from reaching any definitive conclusions.

In 1999, police conducted a raid at the rapper's home in Teaneck, New Jersey, and found a huge cache of guns, as well as—you guessed it—13 caged pit bulls.

After copping a plea in 2002 that spared him jail time, he ended up making a series of PSAs urging children to be kind to animals.

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