Lawyer for Fat Joe’s Ex-Hypeman Arrested After Allegedly Hitting Rapper’s Process Server With Car
The attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, is bringing salacious racketeering claims against Fat Joe and also tried to involve UMG and Lucian Grange in a case against Diddy last year.

A lawyer who brought shocking racketeering claims against Fat Joe and previously tried to drag Universal Music Group (UMG) into the Sean “Diddy” Combs litigation chaos has been arrested for allegedly hitting Fat Joe’s process server with his car.
Attorney Tyrone Blackburn was taken into custody the morning of Wednesday (June 25) and charged by the Brooklyn District Attorney with 10 felony assault counts. Reps for Fat Joe (Joseph Cartagena) say the arrest stems from an incident in which Blackburn allegedly struck the rapper’s process server with his car “in a failed attempt to avoid being served” with paperwork for an extortion lawsuit.
“Tyrone Blackburn’s arrest comes as no surprise to me — it’s just the latest example of his malicious and manipulative pattern of misconduct finally coming to light,” said Fat Joe’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, in a statement. “Today’s arrest is just the first step, but I’m confident that my client’s name will be cleared from all of these falsehoods and Blackburn will be brought to justice once and for all.”
Blackburn pled not guilty to the charges during an initial court appearance Wednesday evening, and he was released without bail.
A criminal defense attorney retained by Blackburn, David Raskin, told Billboard on the phone Wednesday evening that the case is not strong and he expects it to be “at the very least reduced to a misdemeanor, and at some point dismissed.”
Raskin said the incident arose because Fat Joe’s process server surprised Blackburn and “attempted to basically jump across his window.” According to Raskin, the incident was either an accident or a deliberate attempt by the process server to manufacture an assault case.
“Given that my client has been dealing with a lot of high-profile cases, it looks a little bit shady,” added Raskin.
Blackburn represents former Fat Joe hypeman Terrance “T.A.” Dixon, who sued the rapper last week, claiming he was forced to work without pay while being subjected to psychological manipulation and exposed to the trafficking of underage girls and other sexual misconduct.
Fat Joe has strenuously denied the allegations, and before Dixon even filed his lawsuit, the rapper launched a suit of his own accusing both the ex-hypeman and Blackburn of extortion. Fat Joe’s process servers were allegedly attempting to give Blackburn the paperwork for that case when the alleged incident occurred on May 12.
The lawsuit that Blackburn is bringing against Fat Joe frames his activities as a wide-ranging criminal enterprise falling under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — the federal “RICO” statute often used in cases against mobsters and drug cartels.
Blackburn unsuccessfully tried to lob similar RICO claims last year in a sexual assault lawsuit he brought on behalf of producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones against Combs. The case originally accused UMG and CEO Lucian Grainge of participating in Combs’ racketeering conspiracy, but Blackburn later dropped those claims amid fierce opposition from the label. Blackburn admitted in a sworn declaration that there had been “no legal basis” for dragging UMG and Grainge into the salvo.
The attorney’s litigation tactics have been criticized by multiple judges handling his cases. One federal judge referred Blackburn for disciplinary proceedings last year, saying he was using the court system to “garner media attention, embarrass defendants with salacious allegations and pressure defendants to settle quickly.”
This story was updated at 6:57 p.m. ET to include details of the charges against Blackburn. It was updated again at 7:49 p.m. ET to add a statement from Blackburn’s defense lawyer.