LL Cool J’s Alleged Intruder Charged with Burglary - East Idaho News
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LL Cool J’s Alleged Intruder Charged with Burglary

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Getty E 011812 LLCoolJ?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1345760398040ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles County prosecutors Thursday charged a 56-year-old transient with first-degree burglary with a person present after he allegedly broke into the home of rapper-actor LL Cool J while he and his family were sleeping.

Jonathan A. Kirby was charged as a “third striker” in a felony complaint because of previous felony convictions in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Prosecutors are asking for bail to be set at $1.1 million.

Kirby remains hospitalized with a broken nose, jaw and ribs after an intruder broke into the Sherman Oaks, Calif., home of LL Cool J, whose real name is James Todd Smith, at about 2 a.m. Wednesday and triggered an alarm.

No one else was hurt in the incident and nothing was stolen.

Smith, 44, heard noises while sleeping upstairs and went down to see what was happening, KABC reported. The famously fit star, who plays a special agent on NCIS Los Angeles, saw the intruder and quickly took him down.

Smith was able to hold down the intruder until authorities arrived.

“LL Cool J, and his family, are safe and thank everyone for their thoughts and concern. As a father, husband and citizen, he is committed to keeping his family safe and is cooperating with authorities on this private matter,” a representative for Smith said Wednesday.

Kirby’s arraignment will be announced later. If convicted, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 38 years to life in prison.

Under the moniker LL Cool J (an abbreviation for “Ladies Love Cool James”) Smith rose to fame as a rapper with hits including “Around the Way Girl”  and “Mama Said Knock You Out” in the 1980s and 1990s. He turned to acting in the 1990s and 2000s, appearing in films including Deep Blue Sea and S.W.A.T.

Smith took the role of Sam Hanna on the CBS show NCIS: Los Angeles in 2009.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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