The 'Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)' singer requests a 'formal investigation into racial profiling' after he was detained by police in West Hollywood, California, in a case of mistaken identity.
- Mar 22, 2017
AceShowbiz - Wyclef Jean was detained by police in West Hollywood, California after he was mistaken for an armed robbery suspect. The Grammy-winning singer/producer took to Instagram and Twitter on Tuesday, March 21 to share a video of him being handcuffed at a gas station in the 8900 block of Sunset Boulevard in what he called "another case of mistaken identity."
"Black man with red bandana robbed a gas station as I was in the studio working but im in handcuffs?" he wrote in the caption. The police took off his Haitian bandanna and he said in the clip, "[They] have me in cuffs for absolutely nothing." His colleague shot the video.
LAPD another case of mistaken identity. Black man with red bandana robbed a gas station as I was in the studio working but im in handcuffs? pic.twitter.com/vjRfJUkooA
— Wyclef Jean (@wyclef) March 21, 2017
In a statement released by his representative, he asks police and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to investigate the incident. "After the vehicle he was being liveried in was pulled over and from which he was brutally removed from the vehicle and subject to police brutality, racial profiling, police bias and the ongoing discriminatory practices of law enforcement officials which remain rampant throughout the United States and for which the LA Sheriff's office is deeming a case of mistaken identity," the statement read.
It continued, "As such, Mr. Jean is requesting a formal investigation into racial profiling by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, LAPD chief Charlie Beck and the LA Sheriff's Department while calling upon the ACLU and Black Lives Matter to join him in defense of civil liberties and racial bias."
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has released a statement explaining the incident, saying that while they apologized for the inconvenience, the deputies were responding to the area for report of a robbery call near San Vicente Boulevard. The victims provided descriptions of the suspects, who took off in a car similar to the one Jean was riding in.
A while later, deputies spotted Jean's vehicle in "a short distance from the crime scene." The police statement explained, "Deputies followed that vehicle briefly before the vehicle pulled over. As deputies approached the vehicle, the occupants - driver and front passenger, almost simultaneously began to exit the vehicle. It was at this time that the deputies attempted to detain who they believed to be the suspect of the violent crime, Mr. Jean."
Jean was handcuffed "due to the violent nature of the call (armed robbery), the similarity of the suspect vehicle ... the time of day of the unfolding detention and Mr. Jean’s furtive movements and demeanor," police added. The Haitian musician was detained for "approximately six minutes" before being released after officers determined that he was not the suspect.
The actual suspects were apprehended later four blocks away, the department said. The suspects were driving an Acura, while Jean was riding in a Toyota.
