Police union bosses have slammed rapper/actor ICE-T after he accused New York City cops of "lying" over claims he was caught driving on a suspended licence.
On Tuesday (20Jul10), police officers stopped a car driven by the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star and his wife Coco when the couple was spotted not wearing seatbelts.
A subsequent search of police records suggested Ice-T had been temporarily banned from driving and he was booked and released for the charge.
The hip-hop star, real name Tracy Marrow, later logged on to the internet to blast the allegations and the arresting officer.
In a post on Twitter.com, he wrote, "Some punk b**ch rookie cop named Fisher #10026 made the arrest of his bulls**t career today. Arresting the notorious Ice T for no seatbelt."
He insisted authorities had made a mistake, because his licence from his native New Jersey is clean, adding: "That (suspended licence) is some bulls**t they made up... Lie. For the record... My license is not suspended. I don't and never had a NYC licence. I have a valid NJ licence. It was all bulls**t."
But bosses of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association (PBA), which represents police officers in New York City, have now hit back, branding the rapper "disrespectful".
PBA President Patrick Lynch tells the New York Post, "(Ice-T) may play a police officer on TV, but his disdain for law enforcement is well-documented. Real police officers enforce real laws that exist to keep everyone safe, even a disrespectful, former rap performer-turned-actor, whether he likes it or not."