FABOLOUS FOUL SHOT
COPS EYE ROB OF NBA STAR
By LARRY CELONA, MURRAY WEISS and LUKAS I. ALPERT
October 19, 2006 -- Cops are investigating whether a man who snatched Boston Celtic star Sebastian Telfair's $50,000 gold necklace was part of rapper Fabolous' crew - and if the robbery sparked the shooting of the hip-hop artist, sources said yesterday.
Telfair was robbed about 30 minutes before the shooting, after he drove up to Sean "Diddy" Combs' restaurant in Chelsea early Tuesday and parked his Bentley in front before going inside with his fiancée.
When restaurant staff told the hoops star his car would likely be towed, he moved it to a parking lot up the street where a man allegedly stole the necklace, police said.
The 6-foot phenom from Brooklyn's Lincoln HS told investigators the sticky-fingered bandit then ran into the swank eatery, sources said.
When Telfair went inside, he said, he saw the thief talking to members of Fabolous' entourage, the sources said.
A witness at the restaurant told The Post Telfair loudly complained of being robbed, but when asked by security if he wanted to call police, he said no. He then got on his cellphone and was heard telling someone, "Get over here and take care of it," and left.
Police said some members of the golden-tongued rhymer's crew - known as the "Street Family" - have been involved in a tit-for-tat war of medallion theft with other gangs around Bedford-Stuyvesant's Brevoort Houses where the rapper grew up, and had many enemies.
A short time later, Fabolous and three members of his crew walked out to the parking lot and were approached by a gunman.
The unknown thug fired nine shots at them, striking the rapper once in the right thigh, cops said.
The wounded rapper and his pals jumped into a Dodge Magnum and sped off.
They were later stopped by police after running a light, and were arrested after cops allegedly found two unlicensed guns - a .40 caliber and a .380 - in a hidden compartment in the dashboard. The .380 had its serial number filed off, police said.
Telfair left Madison Square Garden at halftime of the Knicks-Celtics game Tuesday night to view lineups, which included Fabolous and his three friends, but did not pick out anyone.
"I fully cooperated with police of New York City," Telfair said last night before an exhibition game against the Nets. "I gave them what happened, and I'm done with it."
The hoops star's agent, Andy Miller, said police had not questioned the hoopster about the shooting and that Telfair had no knowledge about the violence.
Police sources said investigators are looking at the Telfair robbery and its possible connection to the shooting. But they have not ruled out other possibilities. Cops believe a Brooklyn shooting that left Fabolous' brother Paul Cain, 25, wounded two months ago may have been connected to the feud and chain-snatching incidents.
Fabolous, 28, born John Jackson, was arraigned on weapons-possession charges yesterday along with three cohorts. He was released on $15,000 bail, paid in stacks of $100 bills carried in a stainless steel attaché case by his business manager.
In court, Fab's lawyer, Alberto Ebanks, countered criticism from Police Commissioner Ray Kelly that the rapper and his crew were uncooperative, saying his client never got a good look at the shooter.
"When shots are fired, people run for their lives. They are not making a police report at that moment," Ebanks said.
putting a rapper from NYC and someone who grew up in NYC and asking him to idenitfy the person that stole his chain...like telfair doesnt have Fab on his speed dial.
