Cops: Kid Rock Hit Strip Club DJ

(AP)  Kid Rock was arrested Wednesday by Nashville police on charges that he punched a disc jockey at an adult entertainment club.

The entertainer was released from custody about 10:15 a.m. after posting a bond of $3,000 on a charge of simple assault, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

"Everything is wonderful. It was a beautiful night," he said as he left the Criminal Justice Center.

A few hours earlier, he appeared before Night Court Commissioner Howard Taradash wearing handcuffs while an officer held his hat. In answer to the commissioner's questions, he said he lived in Clarkston, Mich., and gave his birth date, Jan. 17, 1971.

The rapper chewed gum and laughed and joked with police officers as he stood in the dock — a small room with a large glass window that separates defendants from the commissioner and observers.

Authorities said Rock was charged after a 2:50 a.m. altercation at Christie's Cabaret near downtown.

Police said 30-year-old Jerry Campos of Cedar Hill, Tenn., was in the DJ booth when he exchanged words with someone in the audience. Believing his friend had been disrespected by Campos, Kid Rock demanded that Campos apologize.

Campos refused, and Kid Rock struck him in the face twice, police said.

Television footage from outside the club showed Campos with a red mark on his face and holding his broken eyeglasses.

"They said I broke his glasses? Who?" Kid Rock responded to reporters after his release.

Arresting officer Lt. Calvin Hullett said Kid Rock and another well-known entertainer, whose name he wouldn't divulge because he hasn't been charged, left through a back door of another strip club when authorities showed up to arrest him.

Police finally caught up with him about 7 a.m. at an apartment near Vanderbilt University where the singer had been staying while in town to perform the song "I Saw the Light" during a Tuesday memorial service for songwriter Merle Kilgore at Ryman Auditorium

Hullett described Kid Rock as "very cooperative" despite giving officers the slip earlier.

When police found him, Kid Rock told them he had dodged them earlier because he had been drinking and wanted to sober up before being booked, Hullett said.

Hullett said Rock has such visibility that it shouldn't be a problem for him to return to Michigan and face the charge here later.

His arraignment is set for March 30.

Born Bob Ritchie, Kid Rock was a Detroit-area hip-hop DJ when he broke through with 1998's "Devil Without a Cause," which successfully married hard rock beats with rap lyrics.