A month ago we showed you the new music video from Ras Bobo – a member of the Sons of Negus reggae outfit and a devout Bobo Shanti. Well devout or not - Ras Bobo – whose real name is Elwin Lewis – faces the prospect of losing his dread locks. That is because tonight the 27-year-old is in jail. He was picked up by police yesterday after his ex common-law wife Carolyn Neal told police that “Ras Bobo” beat her and then pulled a gun on her and threatened to shoot her.
He was charged for aggravated assault with the use of a firearm, two counts of threatening words, and one count of common assault. Today he was arraigned in front of Magistrate Sharon Frazer. Appearing alongside him was Carolyn Neal – his ex-common law wife who told the police that Ras Bobo never threatened her with a gun. Magistrate Frazer withdrew the charges but Ras Bobo still wasn’t free to go because checks revealed he owed the court $25,015.
The money was due two years ago when Ras Bobo pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition charge. If he could pay have paid half the fine – he would have been a free man tonight but he couldn’t so he was sent to jail.
In court he begged Magistrate Sharon Frazer for his dreadlocks – which he reportedly has been growing for 8 years – not be cut. It is customary for any prisoner at the prison to shave their hair for a mug shot. No word if the devout Bobo will get to keep his locks. The Bobo Shanti sect is a deeply devout form of Rastafarianism and the cultivation of dread-locks is a sacred devotion – so much so that it is not even to be shown in public, though his turban was taken off when he went to court today.
And as for his ex-common law wife Carolyn Neal – well she didn’t get off free. Magistrate Sharon Frazer fined her $5 for wasting the court’s time. If she couldn’t pay the fine – she would have served one week in prison.
