Rapper charged with assault

Busta Rhymes was charged Thursday with misdemeanor assault stemming from a man’s complaint that the hip-hop star had beaten him in a dispute over money.

Rhymes, 34, turned himself in and was booked on the misdemeanor charge at a Manhattan police station Wednesday night, police Lt. John Grimpel said. He was released Thursday on $3,500 bail for the third-degree assault charge.

Grimpel said a man told police that Rhymes had punched and kicked him numerous times in a confrontation outside a lower Manhattan building Dec. 26. The man, whose name wasn’t released, was treated at a hospital after the incident, Grimpel said.

A lawyer for Rhymes said his client is innocent.

Rhymes’ hits include “Dangerous” and “Touch It.”