Rapper and record company mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs, 30, and actress/pop star Jennifer Lopez [ tickets ], his 29-year-old girlfriend, were arrested early Monday (12/27) morning (12/27) near Times Square in New York and charged with criminal possession of a weapon and stolen property. Police said they were detained after fleeing a nightclub where three people were wounded in a shootout.

Police say that Combs and Lopez were in the back seat of a Lincoln Navigator that allegedly ran at least one red light as it exited Club NY at about 2:30 a.m.

Officers reported finding a 9 mm pistol which police believe was stolen during a search of the vehicle, which, according to Reuters, is registered to Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment. Two other people in the SUV, bodyguard Anthony Jones, 34, and driver Wardel Fenderson, 41, were also arrested on the weapons and stolen property charges.

Prosecutors dropped the charges against Lopez late this afternoon, but Combs and the other two suspects remained in custody as the prosecutors sorted through the case.

Combs' charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

According to the Associated Press, a police spokesperson said that none of the four people in the SUV were suspects in the nightclub shooting. A spokesperson for Combs, meeting this afternoon with reporters outside the police station where couple was being questioned, said the gun did not belong to Combs or Lopez.

''Mr. Combs and Ms. Lopez unwittingly got into a car to escape a life-threatening situation, and they are a mere victim of circumstance in the wrong place at the wrong time,'' said Dan Klores. ''We are convinced that a thorough investigation will prove these to be the absolute facts.''

The nature of the nightclub dispute wasn't immediately clear, and two of the three shooting victims were in stable condition today at a nearby hospital. Police arrested 19-year-old rapper Jamal Barrow, who performs under the name ''Shyne,'' at the scene of the shootout and later booked him on weapons and attempted murder charges.

One AP report, which cited an unnamed police source, said that police were investigating eyewitness accounts that Combs fired a gun at the club.

Last year, Combs ranked at No. 15 on Forbes magazine's annual list of the highest-paid entertainers, raking in more than $53 million. Besides running Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs won two Grammy Awards in 1998. He is also a high-profile producer who has worked with artists including Notorious B.I.G., Madonna, and Mariah Carey.