Kanye West has been charged with three crimes—misdemeanor battery, grand theft, and vandalism—after his run-in with a paparazzo last year.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Superstar US rapper Kanye West has been charged with assault, theft and vandalism related to a September 2008 incident involving paparazzi at Los Angeles' LAX airport, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The 31-year-old Grammy-award-winning musician could face up to 30 months in prison.

West was arrested on September 11 after the airport altercation in which West and his manager Don Crawley "confronted, and engaged in an altercation with, two photographers," the LA attorney's office said in a statement.

Crawley, 33, was also charged on two counts of battery, two counts of theft and two counts of vandalism, and faces a possible five years in prison.

The incident was caught on video tape, widely viewed on the Internet, which shows West and Crawley wrestling camera equipment from photographers and smashing it on the ground.

The two men are set for arraignment in Los Angeles on April 14.

The incident took place early in the morning as West prepared to board an airplane, while paparazzi tried to photograph and film him.

Reports at the time found the camera equipment was valued at over 10,000 dollars. Police arrested West as he tried to board his plane.