Joined: Nov 22, 2003 Posts: 485 Location: MEMPHIS AND CARMELO'S HOUSE
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 10:45 pm Post subject: Hot Boys Rapper Turk Arrested For Attempted Murder
Turk's mug shot
Photo: Shelby County
Hot Boys rapper Turk was charged Wednesday (January 28) with first-degree attempted murder for allegedly shooting two Memphis, Tennessee, police officers in a Monday raid.
The 22-year-old, whose real name is Tab Virgil, was arrested Monday and is being held on $1 million bail at the Shelby County Jail. He is expected to be arraigned in the next 48 hours.
One of the wounded deputies, 29-year-old Chris Harris, was shot in the jaw, hip and leg and remains in critical condition at the MED medical center following extensive surgery. The other, 31-year-old Jason Pagenkopf, was shot in the neck and has since been released.
The incident began around 2 p.m. on Monday, when a dozen Shelby County narcotics and SWAT officers served a search warrant for drugs believed to be inside an apartment in the Hickory Pointe community in southeast Memphis, according to public information officer Steve Shular.
After no answer from knocking on the door and identifying themselves, the officers entered and began searching the apartment. Turk then allegedly shot at them with a 9 mm handgun. A small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, including spoons and syringes used to inject heroin, were found.
Two other people who were in the apartment at the time were questioned Wednesday, but they will not be charged, according to Shular, who said there is evidence the bullets came from Turk's gun.
"Until the facts come out, he is innocent until proven guilty," Turk's manager, Leroy Hollins II, said in a statement. "As his manager, I know he does not have violent tendencies to commit such an act. This is another case of a good person being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Turk, who hails from Metairie, Louisiana, near New Orleans, has an arrest history involving narcotics, Shular said, and Monday's incident was a violation of a parole mandate on the rapper.
The district attorney ruled Turk a possible flight risk and will not allow him to return to Louisiana unless he posts bail. Turk's case is also being reviewed by the United States attorney's office for additional firearms charges.
Turk was in Memphis recording tracks for his upcoming album and working on remixes for his latest disc, August's Raw & Uncut, according to his manager.
After being discovered by the Cash Money Millionaires in the late '90s, Turk joined the Hot Boys, whose last album, Let 'Em Burn, was also released last year (see "Hot Boys Plan To Burn The Competition With First LP In Four Years"). The rapper released his first solo album in June 2001 (see "Turk Emerges From Cash Money Fringe").
—Corey Moss
For more on Turk, check out the MTV News Archive
[ January 29, 2004: Message edited by: lilboomer ]
