T.I. was arrested early Wednesday morning at the entrance to his own gated community, after apparently forgetting his entry key and getting into a verbal confrontation with a security guard who then called police. This morning, TMZ has obtained surveillance video from the police station, in which a frustrated but polite T.I. asks for an explanation of his arrest. “How was I acting like a fool?” he says. “Because I was questioning the person who refused to acknowledge me?”
According to a statement from T.I.’s attorney, the incident started because the guard was sleeping on the job and, when woken, refused to grant T.I. entry to the community. “When the police arrived, they were not interested in hearing Tip’s side of the story and wrongfully chose to end the situation by arresting Tip,” attorney Steve Sadow wrote on Facebook. Speaking to gossip site the Blast yesterday, T.I. suggested his arrest was racially motivated, saying that though the security guard was black, the arresting officers were “white cops in a very white area.”
According to TMZ, T.I. was eventually allowed into his neighborhood, but returned to the gates on foot to confront the guard again. “I didn’t have to come back, but I had a right to come back,” T.I. can be heard telling officers in the video. “I pay millions of dollars for a house in that residential area.”
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TMZ also has audio of the guard’s 911 call, in which the guard says he’s “being threatened by a resident” but that the situation isn’t physical “at this time.” T.I. can be heard in the background accusing the guard of sleeping and asking him to step outside the booth and give his name.
T.I. was released without bail the same day, and according to his conversation with the Blast, he’s considering taking legal action against his homeowners association.
