Tyrone Blackburn has been arrested amid his ongoing legal battle with rapper Fat Joe.
According to reports, the attorney was arrested for second-degree assault after he allegedly hit a process server with his car. The incident came from a lawsuit that Fat Joe filed in April against Blackburn and his former hype man, Dixon.
The lawsuit accuses Blackburn and Dixon of extortion, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and defamation. Joe’s attorneys said that Blackburn “attempted to evade being served legal papers by striking the process server with his vehicle.”
The original lawsuit, which was filed in March, is based on a letter that was sent by Blackburn and Dixon, which they claim that Dixon was not credited for being a ghostwriter and adding vocals on several of the rapper’s songs. Once Joe dismissed the claims, they sent another letter which threatened the filing of another lawsuit containing “inflammatory and unsubstantiated accusations, incluidnf statutory rape and sex trafficking.”
The men also filed a countersuit against the “Lean Back” rapper the same day an arrest warrant was issued for Blackburn’s arrest.
Fat Joe’s attorney said in a statement, “Tyrone Blackburn’s arrest comes as no surprise to me – it’s just the latest example of his malicious and manipulative pattern of misconduct finally coming to light.” He continued, “Blackburn is an embarrassment to the legal profession, and it’s a disgrace watching him use the court system to shield his extortion tactics. This is exactly why Mr. Cartagena proactively sued Blackburn and his client Terrance Dixon in April because he knew they intended to try to destroy his reputation by peddling salacious lies. Today’s arrest is just the first step, but I’m confident that my client’s name will be cleared from all of these falsehoods and Blackburn will be brought to justice once and for all.”
Fat Joe continues to seek justice from Blackburn and Dixon and wants them to be held accountable for their “malicious campaign.”