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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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ASAP Mob Assault|Blamed on Security

BROOKLYN (CN) - Better security could have helped a sound technician whom Harlem's own ASAP Mob assaulted at a musical festival, he claims in court.

Anthony Montalbano says the incident occurred while he was working the sound boards at a 2011 Fader Music Fest hosted by Drive-In Studios in Chelsea.

An event organizer allegedly believed that the RCA-signed rappers would damage equipment and told Montalbano to take the stage and stop them.

Montalbano says that's when members of the crew grabbed him and pummeled him for several minutes, then hit him on the head with a microphone - landing him in the hospital with 10 stitches on his head.

Security guards did not come to Montalbano's aid because of a failure by Kage Konsulting to hire enough personnel for the event, according to the complaint filed Monday in Kings County Supreme Court.

Named as defendant along with Kage are the security guards hired for the event: All Season Protection of NY and Royale Security Co.

Though he did not name them as defendants to the action, Montalbano identifies the ASAP Mob members he says attacked him as: Rakim Mayers aka ASP Rocky; Markese Rolle aka Spaceghost Purp; Darold Brown aka Darold Ferguson aka ASAP Ferg; Tairiq Devaga aka ASAP Nast; Dominick Lord aka ASAP Dom; Jesus Paulino aka ASAP Yams; and Jabari Shelton aka ASAP Bari.

Each was named as a defendant in a similar action Montalbano filed in 2012.

They're signed with RCA Records, a subset of Sony Music Entertainment. A representative for the latter was not available for immediate comment.

The 2012 suit also named as defendants Sony Music Entertainment Digital, BMG Music Entertainment, Polo Grounds Music, Rood Drive In Studios and ALCAM Property Management.

Goldsmith Ctorides & Rodriguez attorney Christina Ctorides, who filed the suit for Montalbano, declined to comment Wednesday except to say that the latest lawsuit adds the event's planners and security hired to work the event.

Montalbano seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Kage Konsulting and Royale Security did not immediately return requests for comment. All Season Protection declined to comment Wednesday.

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