Swedish ‘rapper’ facing murder charges in LA

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Aftonbladet is reporting that Swedish hip-hop artist and song writer David Jassy, who goes by the stage name Dave Monopoly, is set to be charged with murder on Wednesday in Los Angeles for running down a well-known jazz pianist.

According to reports in the Los Angeles Times, the incident occurred on the morning of November 24th when Jassy’s SUV edged into a pedestrian crosswalk, at which point 55-year-old John Osnes, a respected jazz pianist and advocate for pedestrians’ rights, struck the hood of the vehicle in frustration.

Jassy got out of his vehicle, punched Osnes and then kicked him in the head when he bent over to retrieve his glasses, authorities allege.

Bystanders, including an off-duty Anaheim police officer, attempted to detain Jassy, but he got back in the SUV and drove over Osnes’ body, according to authorities. He fled the scene and was arrested Monday after investigators traced the license plate of his rented car, police said.

Osnes, who was on his way home after visiting a local watering hole, died later in hospital from “blunt force trauma“.

Jassy was initially charged with assault, battery and leaving the scene of an accident, but prosecutors have now added murder to the indictment as well.

In Sweden, coverage of the tragic case of road rage gone awry has been covered primarily by the tabloids which, in accordance with Swedish press ethics standards, refuse to publish Jassy’s name, even though he is named in several LA Times articles.

Alternately referred to in the Swedish press as “the Swedish hip-hop artist” and “the Swedish song writer”, Jassy is by no means a big name in the music world, according to the LA Times

Although he identifies himself as the “CEO of Jassy World Entertainment” on his MySpace page, Jassy is a minor music industry player whose biggest accomplishment to date is rapping on an album track for “High School Musical” actress Ashley Tisdale.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.