Rapper Flavor Flav headed to trial in domestic violence case

Rapper Flavor Flav must stand trial on two domestic violence charges, a Las Vegas judge ruled Wednesday.

The artist, whose real name is William Drayton, declined comment after a preliminary hearing at which his fiancee’s 17-year-old son testified that Drayton threatened him with a butcher knife during the October incident.

“You don’t know me. I will (expletive) murder you,” Gibran Trujillo quoted Drayton as saying during their fight.

Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson ordered Drayton, 53, to stand trial in District Court on one count each of assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse and neglect. If convicted, he could get prison time.

Drayton is best known as the hype man for iconic hip-hop group Public Enemy. Pop culture fans also recognize him for his appearances on the VH1 reality show “Flavor of Love,” which last aired in 2008.

The rapper appeared in court wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt featuring the Public Enemy logo. He carried a football-sized bundle of keys, which he told the judge were his “keys to life.”

During the son’s testimony, he was asked to identify Drayton by something he was wearing. “The clock,” the teen said, pointing to Drayton’s signature accessory, a large white analog clock hanging from the rapper’s neck.

Gibran Trujillo testified that Drayton woke him up about 2 a.m. Oct. 17 and told him his mother, Elizabeth Trujillo, 39, was going to kill herself.

When Drayton began yelling at Elizabeth Trujillo, the teen got between the rapper and his mother.

After some pushing and “do you want a piece of me” talk, the two began to wrestle, the teen said. Gibran Trujillo, a high school football and basketball player who stands 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds, got the 5-foot-7-inch-tall Drayton in a headlock.

After the tussle, Drayton grabbed a butcher knife, a steak knife and a pizza cutter and went after the teen, he testified. Gibran Trujillo ran upstairs and hid in a guest bedroom where Drayton’s daughter was and locked the door.

Drayton stabbed a knife through the door, entered the room and threatened to kill the teen, according to testimony.

Drayton’s lawyer, Tony Abbatangelo, noted that his mobile phone was broken in the scuffle and that Elizabeth Trujillo hit the rapper while her son held him in the headlock. Abbatangelo suggested there could be a self-defense claim made by Drayton, who did not testify.

Arraignment was set for April 18, the same day of Drayton’s induction ceremony at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The hearing probably will be postponed. Drayton is set to go on a European tour with Public Enemy through May 5.

A second misdemeanor domestic violence case against Drayton involving Elizabeth Trujillo was postponed until July.