LOS ANGELES - Members of a Los Angeles street gang are facing charges in the 2008 beating of a man who claimed he had a sex tape of Shaquille O'Neal and that the former NBA star was behind the attack.
Robert Ross reported being beaten in 2008 but details of the case only came to light publically this week in a preliminary hearing in which Ross testified against seven members of the Main Street Crips facing kidnapping, robbery and assault charges.
Ross told investigators he was kidnapped at gunpoint by Main Street Crips gang members in West Hollywood in February 2008 and taken to the home of the gang's alleged leader Ladell Rowles. He said the gang members beat him, stole $15,000 in cash and some jewelry.
Ross told investigators in 2008 that he believed O'Neal was behind the attack because of a business deal gone bad and because O'Neal believed he had the sex tape, the Times reported. Ross later told police he was "bluffing" about the tape.
O'Neal and Stevens both denied any involvement in the attack when interviewed by sheriff's investigators in 2008, the Times said.
In a July 2009 letter asking for leniency in Ross' sentencing for unrelated federal drug and firearm charges, a sheriff's captain wrote that Ross was cooperating with law enforcement as a victim and witness in an incident that may implicate a "celebrity," the Times reported.
Ross is expected to resume his testimony when the preliminary hearing continues in July.
LAMediaWatch.com
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