Flavor Flav arrested in Las Vegas for slapping a his fiance

LAS VEGAS —

A police report says entertainer Flavor Flav threw his fiancee to the floor twice and wielded two knives while chasing and threatening to kill her 17-year-old son during an argument in Las Vegas.

The report obtained Wednesday says the 53-year-old former hip-hop and reality television star cut his finger with one of the knives before police arrived about 3:30 a.m.

The star, whose legal name is William Jonathan Drayton, was arrested Wednesday on felony assault and misdemeanor domestic battery charges.

Police say the woman had an earring ripped out during the fracas. The teen ran to his sister's bedroom, where he told police Drayton kicked in the door.

Drayton denied threatening the teen.

Drayton is being held at the Clark County jail pending an initial court appearance on Thursday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Entertainer Flavor Flav was arrested Wednesday on felony and misdemeanor charges after arguing with his fiancee and threatening to attack her teenage son with a knife, Las Vegas police said.

The 53-year-old former rapper, hip-hop and reality television star, whose legal name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., was taken into custody about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday at a home several miles southwest of the Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas police Officer Bill Cassell said.

Patrol officers did not report that anyone was injured.

Drayton faces a felony assault with a deadly weapon charge carrying a possible penalty of up to six years in prison and a misdemeanor battery-domestic violence charge that could get him six months in county jail, according to jail records.

He was being held on $23,000 bail at Clark County jail pending an initial court appearance on Thursday. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Drayton, whose public persona includes wearing a big clock on his chest, was an original member of the politically and socially militant rap group Public Enemy in the 1980s and `90s.

In recent years he has starred in several reality TV series and lent his name and recipes to short-lived chicken and soul food restaurants in Clinton, Iowa, and Las Vegas.

He has a criminal history that includes arrests and convictions on traffic infractions, a month in jail for assaulting his then-girlfriend in 1991, and three months in prison for shooting at a neighbor in New York in 1993.

In Las Vegas, Drayton was arrested in May 2011 on outstanding unpaid traffic warrants and paid a fine. Court records show he has been ticketed eight times since August 2008 and paid almost $7,000 in fines for driving violations, including multiple instances of driving without a valid license.