Ol’ Dirty Bastard Leaves Hospital After Robbery Shooting
Less than nine hours after being shot in the back during an alleged
robbery, Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol’ Dirty
Bastard walked out of a New York hospital against doctors’
orders.
The 29-year-old Brooklyn resident checked himself into
St. John’s Hospital’s emergency ward shortly after
the shooting, which took place at 5:30 p.m. in the Brownsville
section of the borough. Two men entered ODB’s apartment at 254
Ralph Ave. and threatened him with a gun before stealing an
undisclosed amount of money and jewelry, according to a police
spokeswoman.
ODB, who was born Russell Jones, was shot once
during the robbery. The bullet entered through his back and exited
through an arm, hospital spokesman Lars Larmon
told JAMTV on
Wednesday.
“He was very lucky that the bullet didn’t hit any organs and
just grazed the body,” he said. “It could have gone anywhere else
and he wouldn’t be here today.”
Doctors treated ODB for superficial wounds and used an oxygen
monitor to regulate his breathing because they feared the bullet
had grazed his lungs, Larmon said. No complications arose, and ODB
was listed in stable condition until approximately 2 a.m., when he
suddenly checked out of the hospital. He was scheduled to remain
under observation until at least 11 a.m., when St. John’s generally
discharges patients who have obtained a doctor’s approval.
“He got out of bed, started getting his things together…walked
out the emergency room door, got into his van and drove off,”
Larmon said.
A spokeswoman for ODB said he is recuperating at a nearby home,
but will not return to his Brooklyn apartment for some time. She
could not comment on whether the rapper knew his assailants or
would help the police identify suspects.
The 81st Precinct of the Brooklyn Police has made no arrests in
this case, but the police spokeswoman said they suspect the robbery
was a random act of violence rather than an attempted hit on the
multiplatinum rapper.
“It was a terrible thing to have happen,” the chairman of
Loud Records, Steven Rifkind,
said in a press release Wednesday. “Thankfully, he is OK and we are
praying for a speedy recovery.”
ODB, who changed his name to Big Baby Jesus in April, suffered
another run-in with the law on May 20, when a Brooklyn judge
ordered him to pay $35,000 in back child support to Icelene
Jones, the mother of three of his children. One month
earlier, he pleaded guilty to attempted assault against the same
woman.