Love & Hip Hop Atlanta reality star and resident bad boy Lil Scrappy is back in the news this week for legal issues.

It appears that the shining beacon of hip-hop hope (see what I did there?) had to go ‘hood’ on a hater trying to chump him in the local mini-mart and got locked up for ‘puttin’ dem paws’ on em!

Footage of the incident + details below…

First let me preface this to say that this a totally anti-climatic story. I could be all dramatic and make it bigger than it is but for what? What I do know is that Mona Scott-Young should be kicking herself right now since they didn’t get this on tape for LHHAT… but who knows?  Maybe they did.

(Where’s the mugshot?) But I digress….

Basically Scrap Merlo Jones and his new gal pal Bambi were at a gas station around 2:33am (…and we all know NOTHING good happens after midnight) when a “fan” tried to get at our hometown hero.

Watch video footage…

VIDEO: Lil Scrappy Scraps in Convenience Store

According to TMZ, the Scrappy was merely protecting his new boo’s honor when he ‘put dem paws’ on that guy in the convenience store:

Law enforcement tells TMZ … cops received a call about a brawl going down inside the gas station around 2:33 AM. We’re told an off-duty police officer from Atlanta happened to be at the same gas station and sprang into action — successfully breaking up the fight.

When on-duty cops arrived to the scene … Scrappy and the other man were arrested for disorderly conduct and hauled to a nearby police station.

FYI — the other guy in the fight was Kenny Rogers … not “The Gambler” Kenny Rogers … just a random guy who also happens to share the same name as the country legend.

We’re told Scrappy was very cooperative once in custody — and was released a short time later.

We spoke with Scrappy who insists Kenny Rogers was the aggressor — “He was calling my girlfriend names and then put his hands on me … so I had to lay them paws on him.”

Scrappy’s lawyer Mawuli Mel Davis tells us there’s video that proves Scrappy was acting in self-defense.

Scrappy says he plans to cooperate with law enforcement moving forward — and is now trying to focus on the next season of his reality show.

For the record, I con confidently confirm that Scrappy WILL be back for LHHATL’s 3rd season (despite what you may have heard elsewhere) and YES… Bambi will be on deck as his new ‘love interest’ on the show. (That’s good news for Scrappy… bad news for Shay Johnson).

Scrappy isn’t shy about his current infatuation either. While he’s never professed his love for Shay, Scrap hit the net recently to tell the world how he feels about his new chick:

I guess that means he loves her huh?

Anywhoo… stay tuned for the drama next season.

What do you think about Scrappy’s latest brush with the law?

Photos: Prince Williams (ATLPics) & Instagram

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