Singer charged with possession

Monday, March 8, 2004 Posted: 12:04 PM EST (1704 GMT) 

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Singer David Crosby was arrested early Saturday, charged with criminal possession of a weapon and marijuana found in his luggage, police said.

The 62-year-old founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash was arrested at 1 a.m. in a Times Square hotel after police found a loaded .45-caliber handgun and a small quantity of marijuana, a police report said.

Crosby checked out of the Doubletree Suites Hotel on Broadway after he performed Friday night at William Paterson University's Shea Center for the Performing Arts in Wayne, New Jersey. Crosby and his band played Thursday night at Manhattan's B.B. King Blues Club.

Police said Crosby left behind a piece of luggage, which was found by a hotel employee. The employee went through the luggage, looking for identification, finding instead the handgun and marijuana.

The employee called authorities, and Crosby, discovering the missing luggage himself, telephoned to say he would return for it, police said. He was met by New York police, who arrested him.

Crosby spent a year in Texas jails after a conviction on drug-related weapons charges landed him there in 1985. The Texas Supreme Court, however, overturned the conviction.

A Saturday night show at the Keswick Theatre outside Philadelphia was to go on as scheduled, a representative of the theater said.

Manhattan Central Booking said Crosby had been arraigned, but it was not clear if he was still in jail or had been released after the arraignment. 

Crosby's tour was launched on February 27 and was to continue through the end of April.