The aspiring rapper Lil Za, as pictured here with Bieber, was arrested from the latter’s California home. PHOTO: FILE
LOS ANGELES: The latest, in a string of incidents that have overshadowed Justin Bieber’s music career in the last year, is that the singer could face felony charges. The Baby singer has had his fair share of altercations with the police and has become a neighbourhood nuisance. Last year, Bieber was accused of speeding through his neighbourhood in a Ferrari sports car and also spitting on his neighbour during a confrontation over parties at the singer’s home. Prosecutors did not bring charges against Bieber in either case, but his latest antics have had repercussions.
A police search of the star’s California home on Tuesday, resulted in the arrest of a man after drugs were found there, Los Angeles County Sheriff said. Detectives raided Bieber’s home at about 8am following a complaint levelled against him for pelting his neighbour’s home with eggs in an incident on January 9.
Bieber, 19, was detained at his Calabasas home, while a dozen deputies searched for evidence. “He has not been arrested, nor has been exonerated,” Sheriff’s Lt David Thompson said.
“We were looking at things that would put him or anything else at the scene,” Thompson said, adding that Bieber’s attorneys were not present during the search and the singer was not questioned. An unnamed person in Bieber’s home at the time of the search was arrested for narcotics possession when deputies found cocaine in plain view, Thompson said. Celebrity news website TMZ.com identified the man as aspiring 20-year-old rapper Lil Za, who is often photographed with Bieber and is reportedly a close friend. The website published photos and video of Lil Za, real name Xavier Smith, handcuffed and being led to a deputy’s car.
The vandalism case is being treated as felony because it caused $20,000 in damages, according to the home-owner. “We didn’t do this search to send a message, that’s not what we do,” Thompson said. “This has nothing to do with him being a celebrity. This is a felony crime.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2014.
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