Rapper Coolio arrested in unpaid ticket case

This image provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows the rapper Coolio, was arrested Friday March 9, 2012, in Las Vegas on a warrant charging him with failure to appear in a local court on a traffic ticket almost two years ago. / AP Photo/LVMPD

(AP) LAS VEGAS - Rapper Coolio was arrested Friday on a warrant charging him with failure to appear in court on a traffic ticket almost two years ago.

Coolio, 48, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr., was a passenger in a vehicle officers stopped about 2:20 a.m. several blocks east of the Las Vegas Strip, Officer Laura Meltzer said.

No one else in the car was arrested.

It was not immediately clear if Ivey had a lawyer. His manager Susan Haber said she had not heard about the incident and had no comment.

Ivey was sought on a warrant charging him with failure to appear on an illegal stop and driving without a license summons issued in June 2010.

He was freed later in the day. A court date wasn't immediately known.

Coolio is a musician, actor and record producer best known for the song "Gangsta's Paradise."

[Bush-cheney-R-Terrorists]

I'm all for strict enforcement of the traffic laws, but is it legal to do a warrant check on the passengers of the car during a traffic stop? Doesn't the cop have the option to just say, "Mr. Coolio, look there is an arrest warrant out for you on a 2 year old traffic ticket. Why don't you just go straight to the police station and deal with this now?"