Judge Lets The Game Go Free

A judge let The Game go free Thursday on a charge that he impersonated a police officer.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Marc Whiten gave the West Coast rapper, whose real name is Jayceon Taylor, a conditional discharge, meaning that if he isn't arrested again within six months, the misdemeanor charge will be dismissed and the case file sealed.

Taylor was arrested Nov. 16, 2006, after he told a cab driver that he was an undercover police officer and directed him to run several red lights, police said after the rapper's arrest.

Taylor, 27, of Glendale, Calif., had hailed the livery cab shortly after appearing on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman." The cab driver drove about 13 blocks before he was pulled over, police said at the time.

Taylor, who has a large "LA" tattooed on the right side of his face and a teardrop under his left eye, said the cab driver noticed they were being followed and asked who was in the car.

He said he told the driver they were the hip-hop police, and the driver decided on his own to run the red lights.

Jeffrey Lichtman, Taylor's lawyer, said it was unlikely that a cab driver, seeing his client's tattoos, would have thought he was a policeman.

"I've never seen a cop with writing all over his face," Taylor said.

Taylor had rejected offers of a plea deal that would have kept him out of jail in exchange for a guilty plea. He said he was innocent of any crime.