Jul 13, 2008 6:44 pm US/Pacific
Rapper Too Short May Lose Oakland Recording Studio
OAKLAND (AP) ―
Rapper Too Short may lose his Oakland recording studio if he doesn't pay $1 million from a settlement over a fatal 1991 car crash.
The rapper, whose legal name is Todd Shaw, owes the money to the family of a man killed in the head-on collision that also seriously injured another man.
According to court documents, Shaw was uninsured and legally drunk at the time, although investigators found he was not directly responsible for the crash.
Still, the family of 22-year-old James Ellerbee reached the settlement with Shaw in 1996 after filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
More than a decade later, lawyers for the family said Shaw has not paid up.
The Alameda County Sheriff's Office now has been ordered to seize the equipment in the UpAllNite studio, which Shaw opened in May, to pay the $1.1 million he owes.
Shaw's lawyer said he already has paid some of the settlement, and has been trying to work out a payment plan for the rest.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
