The son of the kingpin immortalized in the film "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington, has a message for the NYPD:
"I have no desire to be 'American Gangster Jr.,'" Frank Lucas Jr., 38, said Tuesday.
To prove the point, he's preparing to sue the city for $25 million over what he contends was a bogus arrest, use of excessive force and harassment by cops on Staten Island last month.
The charge - misdemeanor possession of marijuana in the fifth-degree - is Little League stuff compared to Frank Lucas Sr.'s 1960s and '70s reign as a Harlem godfather who cornered the drug trade by cutting out the Mafia and paying off crooked cops.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm definitely not proud of a lot of things [my father] did to rise out of his circumstances," said Lucas, an aspiring hip-hop artist.
His father's notoriety may have escalated tensions during a confrontation with plainclothes cops on March 28.
High-powered lawyer Salvatore Strazzullo contends Lucas was initially a victim of racial profiling because he was stopped while in an auto driven by his manager, Gene Ragusa, who is white.
After cops recognized Lucas's name, they allegedly peppered him with insults.
"One officer said, 'You're Frank Lucas's son and a rapper? You got two strikes against you,' " Lucas said.
"He's been tainted by his father's mistakes," Strazzullo said. "The whole time they're saying, 'Look who's here, the "American Gangster." ' "
Cops say they found a glassine bag with residue of weed in Ragusa's car. The men spent two nights in jail before pleading guilty with the condition the charges will be dismissed if they stay out of trouble for one year.
Lucas, who said he also has a 1997 conviction for assault, told his father about the arrest this week.
"He was cool about the situation. He said, 'Watch yourself. I felt like he was thinking that his name as the 'King of Smack' had played a part in bringing this on me."
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