Former member of Crips jailed

Los Angeles Daily News

Former member of Crips jailed

By Ryan Oliver
Staff Writer

Friday, July 16, 2004 – Best-selling novelist and notorious former Crips gang member Kody DeJohn Scott surrendered to Los Angeles police Friday after he allegedly assaulted an officer, prompting the dispatch of a SWAT team.

Scott, 40, used the pen name Sanyika Shakur to write his critically acclaimed 1992 autobiography “Monster” about his life in South Central Los Angeles’ gang culture. He was being held on $50,000 bail.

About 9:30 a.m., patrol officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s 77th Street Division were investigating a trespassing report at an abandoned house in the 1400 block of 76th Street when they saw a man run out the back door. The officers gave chase and caught up to him, but Scott allegedly scuffled with one officer and threw him to the ground, said LAPD spokesman Officer Don Cox.

“There was a scuffle, one of the officers got knocked down and the suspect took off running again,” Cox said.

Police surrounded the area and called in a SWAT team before the 270-pound Scott surrendered. Scott, who served previous prison sentences for assault with a firearm, attempted robbery, resisting arrest and a narcotics offense, was wanted at the time of his arrest for failing to report to his parole officer.

Scott’s book has become required reading in some college courses and recounts his life with the Crips’ Eight-Tray gangsters beginning at age 11, and his miraculous survival at 16 when he was ambushed by rival gang members and shot six times in his stomach. –Ryan Oliver

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