Rapper to Face Gun Charge

By Stephen M. Silverman

04/29/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

While the jury is still out on the fate of Sean "Puffy" Combs, rapper Nate Dogg, 31, will stand trial on a charge of weapons possession by a felon, reports the Associated Press. But Dogg, whose real name is Nathaniel Dawayne Hale, had four other charges dismissed against him. These were connected to his alleged behavior his with ex-girlfriend and included the accusations that he took her from her mother's Southern California house on June 17, held her against her will, assaulted her and set fire to her car. Deputy District Attorney Eric Perrodin said three of the charges were dismissed because the ex-girlfriend refused to be served with a court summons on the grounds, she said, that she did not want to be responsible for sending her son's father to prison. The felony weapons charge stems from Hale's June 18 arrest when officers arrived at his home and discovered a gun, authorities said. This was reportedly in violation of his parole following a 1996 conviction in a Los Angeles County drug case.