Rocker Crosby Busted for Pot, Guns

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Veteran rock musician David Crosby was arrested early Saturday on marijuana and gun possession charges at a Times Square hotel, New York police tell Reuters.

Crosby, 62, who previously served prison time on drug charges, was in New York to perform with his band. Police said he was freed after appearing in court and posting bail of $3,500, though not until he had spent 12 hours in a cell at a Lower Manhattan jail, The New York Times reports.

Crosby -- best known for his work with the Byrds and later Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and who also famously served as a sperm donor for Melissa Etheridge's baby with her then-partner -- was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful drug possession, said Manhattan District Attorney spokeswoman Barbara Thompson. He is due to return to court on May 19, per the instructions of State Supreme Court Judge Robert H. Straus.

According to reports, a hotel manager at the Doubletree Guest Suites hotel called police after a maid searching for identification in a green canvas bag Crosby left in a room discovered a small quantity of marijuana, rolling papers, a .45-caliber pistol, ammunition and two knives in his bag. The bag was searched for identification, says The Times.

Crosby's tour publicists were not immediately available to comment on the arrest. A hotel spokesman said, "We don't have anything else to add to the police reports."

In 1985, Crosby served a year in prison after being convicted for a drug-related arrest in Dallas a few years earlier. A court eventually overturned his conviction on appeal and he was released.