T.I. was "wrongfully arrested" after showing up at his own gated community without a key, his attorney says

Police arrested rapper T.I. in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the three-time Grammy winning artist returned to the gated community where he lives without his key.

T.I., born Clifford Harris Jr., returned to his home in an Atlanta, Georgia, suburb around 4:00 a.m. apparently drunk, and the security guard for the gated community refused to grant him entry without a key, WSB-TV reported. “Don’t you know who I am?” T.I. reportedly asked the guard. He then called a friend, and the two of them continued to argue with the guard.

I’s not clear yet whether the guard called the cops or someone else, but Henry County Police eventually arrived on the scene and arrested both T.I. and his friend — his friend on outstanding warrant and T.I. on misdemeanor charges of simple assault, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness.

He was released from Henry County Jail at around 8 a.m. after posting $2,250 bond, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and did not appear before a judge.

T.I.’s spokesperson wasn’t immediately available for comment, and the Henry County Police Department nor the Henry County Sheriff’s Office immediately responded for comment.

In a statement provided to WSB, however, Steve Sadow, attorney for T.I. (who recently goes by “Tip”) said his client was “wrongfully arrested” and was in contact with his wife, Tiny, who spoke to the security guard and confirmed he was a resident.

It’s not the first time that Henry County Police Department has rumbled with a celebrity. A police officer from the department was recently fired for using excessive force on former NFL player Desmond Marrow during an arrest last December. The arrest was caught on video, which shows the officer choking Marrow as he slammed him to the ground.

And nor was it T.I.’s first tangle with the law. He spent seven months in federal prison on weapons charges and then did two separate stints in county jail due to probation violations

Cover image: T.I. attends the Roc Nation Brunch 2018 at One World Observatory on January 27, 2018 in New York City. (Dennis Van Tine/Geisler-Fotopress/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)