The man who attacked Dave Chapelle on stage earlier this year has been jailed for nine months.
Chappelle, 48, was performing at the Hollywood Bowl in May as part of the Netflix is a Joke festival when a man rushed on to the stage and attacked him, carrying a replica handgun fitted with an ejecting knife blade.
Immediately after the altercation, the attacker – identified as 24-year-old Isaiah Lee – was detained by security and removed from the scene.
Chappelle was not injured during the incident. His security entourage managed to get the attacker off of him.
Now, Lee has been sentenced to 270 days in jail after pleading no contest to misdemeanour charges.
Earlier this year, Los Angeles County district attorney George Gascon’s office declined to file felony charges against Lee.
The DA’s office referred the case to the LA city attorney’s office for misdemeanour filing consideration instead.
Prosecutors determined that while Lee’s actions constituted criminal conduct, the evidence as presented did not constitute felony conduct, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Among the reasons why the incident didn’t rise to a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon is a source who told the publication that Lee was not brandishing the weapon when he stormed on stage.
The source said that the replica gun and knife was inside a bag that he had been carrying.
In May, apart from being charged involved in attacking Chapelle, Lee was also charged with attempted murder in a separate case.
He was charged with allegedly stabbing his roommate during a fight at a transitional housing apartment on 2 December last year, as per the the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
At the time, Chapelle issued a statement addressing the attack, saying that he “refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment”.
