DIX HILLS, N.Y. — A multimillion-dollar home at the center of a bitter dispute between 50 Cent and the mother of his son was destroyed by a suspicious fire early Friday.
Six people, including 50’s ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins and their 10-year-old son, Marquise, were taken to a hospital after suffering smoke inhalation and later released. A firefighter also suffered a minor eye injury, officials said.
The rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, doesn’t live in the home and wasn’t there at the time.
“Informed this morning while filming a new motion picture on location in Louisiana, Curtis Jackson expressed deep concern over this fire at his property,” a representative for the rapper said in a statement. “He is extremely thankful that everyone, including his son, Marquise, escaped the burning house safely. He is confident that authorities will be conducting a thorough investigation of the incident and is eager to review their findings.”
The home was essentially burned to the ground, with charred embers and wreckage littering the lot where the home once stood.
Investigators from the Suffolk County arson squad were called to the scene after Dix Hills Fire Chief Larry Feld deemed the blaze suspicious. The fire was reported at 4:59 a.m. and was extinguished about 45 minutes later, Feld said. The arson squad had finished its work at the scene six hours after the blaze.
A passing off-duty police officer helped rescue the six people off an elevated deck in the home’s back yard, Feld said.
The home has been the subject of an intense feud between 50 and Tompkins.
The rapper last month tried to evict Tompkins and their son from the home unless she paid him $4,500 a month in rent.
In turn, Tompkins filed a lawsuit against Jackson in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, claiming breach of contract and charging that the rapper had promised to put all or part of the house in her name.
Farina won’t face felony charge in gun case
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County prosecutors won’t file felony charges against actor Dennis Farina for having a gun in his luggage at an airport earlier this month.
Farina was arrested for investigation of carrying a concealed weapon.
Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said Friday there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Farina with a felony.
Instead, the case was referred to the city attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file misdemeanor charges.
Farina has said he forgot the weapon was in his luggage.
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