Three men who tried to shake down NBA star Carmelo Anthony for $3 million in exchange for video of the player in a nightclub brawl were busted on the upper West Side yesterday, cops said.
The tape shows a fight involving the Denver Nuggets forward that broke out in September at Club Babalu on W. 44th St.
Rapper Sugar Ray allegedly spat in the face of La La Vasquez, an MTV personality who is Anthony's girlfriend and the rapper's ex, and the two men began duking it out.
Anthony, 20, said he was relieved by the arrests.
"I'm glad the police handled it the best that they could," he said last night. "I hope it's going away so I could just focus on basketball."
The player's agent, Calvin Andrews, said, "This arrest is related to the previously reported altercation between Carmelo and another individual in New York. ... When these individuals, who had absolutely nothing to do with that incident, demanded money, Carmelo chose not to give in to these demands and we turned the matter over to the authorities. This is a desperate attempt by ill-intentioned people trying to cash in on a random brush of fame."
An undercover NYPD detective arranged a 10 a.m. meeting yesterday with the suspects near W. 61st St. and Central Park West. In exchange for a hefty check, the men turned over the tape, police said.
Their dreams of fast cash were dashed when cops slapped cuffs on them. Prosecutors said the suspects will be arraigned today.
Charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property were: Rodrigo Sanchez, 36, of South Orange, N.J., and Jason Pabo, 26, and Joubert Santos, 29, both of the Bronx.
Anthony moved from Brooklyn to the Baltimore area as a youngster after his father died. In his freshman year, he led Syracuse University to the NCAA Championship in 2003.
The case is the second plot against a high-profile athlete to come to light this month. A self-described community activist was busted for allegedly trying to extort $20,000 from Yankee slugger Gary Sheffield, claiming he had a sex tape of the player's wife.
