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Alameda DA Confirms MC Hammer Won't Face Charges

DUBLIN (CBS SF) - The Alameda County District Attorney's Office has confirmed that it will not file charges against rapper MC Hammer in connection with an incident at Hacienda Crossings Shopping Center in Dublin last month.

Dublin police said Hammer, 50, whose real name is Stanley Kirk Burrell, was approached after officers spotted him parked at a Shell gas station near the shopping center around 10:20 p.m. on Feb. 21. The car had expired registration tags, police Lt. Herb Walters said.

Walters said Burrell could not produce any proof that the vehicle was his and became uncooperative with officers. He was arrested on suspicion of obstructing an officer in the performance of his duties and resisting an officer.

MC Hammer Booking Photo
MC Hammer (Stanley Kirk Burrell booking photo. (Alameda County Sheriff's Office)

Burrell, a Tracy resident, was booked into the Santa Rita Jail but posted bail and was released, Walters said.

According to Burrell, a police officer approached him and arrested him without cause.

In one tweet on the social networking site Twitter, he said the officer "was tapping on my car window, I rolled down the window and he said, 'Are you on parole or probation?'"

"It was comical to me until he pulled out his guns, blew his whistle and yelled for help," he tweeted.

Officers found an expired registration in the car but were unable to contact the registered owner, who was not Burrell, Walters said.

On Friday night, after hearing of the decision not to file charges against him, Hammer sent a message on Twitter that read, "Thank You to all my friends and supporters. All CHARGES DECLINED. Dropped. Have A great Weekend."

Dublin police Lt. Nate Schmidt said Monday that department officials still believe that officers had probable cause to question and arrest Burrell. He said the department was seeking a misdemeanor charge against the rapper.

District attorney's office spokeswoman Teresa Drenick declined to elaborate on the decision not to charge Burrell.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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