JA RULE - JA RULE LAWSUIT DROPPED

LATEST: JA RULE has had a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey contractor dropped - because the complainant fears for his safety. The rapper - real name Jeffrey Atkins - was accused of failing to pay contractor Joel Tobia the remaining $8,000 (GBP4,000) balance of a $13,000 (GBP6,500) bill, after he agreed to fix a bad leak at the star's Saddle River mansion earlier this year (07). But in a dramatic U-turn on Thursday (16Aug07), Tobia withdrew his criminal complaint against Atkins, telling Superior Court Judge Roy F. MCGeady he was "extremely uncomfortable going forward with this case", reports the New York Daily News. Appearing at Hackensack Municipal Court, he added: "People are asking me, 'Do you know what you are doing?' "I have two children. I am concerned. I hope you are reading between the lines." Atkins, who was not in attendance, is a close friend and business associate of The Inc. boss Irv Gotti - born Irving Lorenzo - who has previously been linked to convicted New York drug lord Kenneth 'Supreme' MCGriff.