Wyclef Jean was detained early Tuesday morning (March 21) after he was mistaken for a robbery suspect.
As the New York Times, Jean was handcuffed and detained by deputies in Los Angeles after they mistook him for a suspect in a robbery near the studio where he was working.
The incident took place in Los Angeles, where Jean was stopped at a gas station near the studio and was handcuffed without any explanation. According to police, they were searching for a suspect who was involved in an armed robbery in the same West Hollywood area. This suspect was described as a black man wearing a dark hoodie with a red bandana who fled the scene in a gold or tan Toyota sedan. Bothered by the sequence of events, Jean revealed the incident on Twitter.
“I’m in L.A. right now coming from the studio with T-Baby and y’all see the police have handcuffs on me,” he wrote on Twitter. “They just took off my Haitian bandana. That’s what’s going on right now with Wyclef in L.A. right now. The LAPD have me in cuffs for absolutely nothing.”
Jean was released shortly after police officers identified him as the wrong person. Since the incident, Jean took to Twitter to blast the LAPD.
UPDATE: The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has issued an apology to Wyclef Jean. “It is unfortunate that Mr. Jean was detained for six minutes during this investigation, as he had no involvement whatsoever in this violent crime,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement, while also confirming it was its deputies who detained Jean. The sheriff’s department said deputies “are frequently required to make lawful detentions, under the strict parameters provided by law, in the interest of catching often dangerous and armed suspects in our communities and keeping the public safe.” In responding to the incident, the department stated that it is “apologetic for any inconvenience this process caused Mr. Jean.”
Regarding the Detention of Mr. Wyclef Jean Official Department Statement: It is unfortunate that Mr. Jean was…
Posted by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, March 21, 2017