Celebrity musician Flavor Flav has been arrested for driving with 16 pending suspensions on his license, but he was released to attend his mother’s funeral. The man, a member of the classic hip-hop group Public Enemy, was allegedly stopped for traveling at 79 mph in a 55 mph zone. Further, cops found that Flav was carrying a small amount of marijuana at the time he was arrested. Flav has reportedly served jail time at Rikers Island for driving with an active license suspension in the past.

Official reports show that the high-profile rapper also has a long history of other traffic violations. He was arrested in 2011, for example, for driving without proof of insurance, along with driving without a license and failure to pay overdue parking violations. Flav has also missed out on several appearances with his band because of related incidents, thanks to a variety of other violations.

Flavor Flav is still awaiting trial on an outstanding charge of assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence after another 2012 incident. In that case, the New York rapper is accused of menacing his fiancee and threatening at least one other person with a knife. No news has been released in recent months about that case, which was slated to proceed with a hearing in late September.

As you can see, Flavor Flav has a significant criminal history involving personal assaults and driving violations. Still, he was permitted to leave custody after his arrest on Jan. 9 in order to attend his mother’s funeral. It is possible to recover from a series of ongoing criminal charges, especially if those charges are deemed to be unfounded. A criminal defense attorney can help New Yorkers who are struggling with license suspension learn more about their legal rights, providing them with the information they need to get back on the road as soon as possible.

Source: Rolling Stone, “Flavor Flav Arrested in New York But Released to Attend Mom’s Funeral” Kory Grow, Jan. 10, 2014