Rapper DaBaby arrested on Beverly Hills weapons allegation

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Grammy-nominated rapper DaBaby has been released from a Los Angeles County jail after an arrest in Beverly Hills, where police said he took a loaded gun into an upscale store on Rodeo Drive.

DaBaby, whose legal name is Jonathan Kirk, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded gun in a vehicle, Beverly Hills police said.

The 29-year-old was one of a group of men who walked into a store on an upscale stretch of Rodeo Drive, police said. Store security called police after seeing a gun in one man’s waistband, and officers met the men as they returned to their vehicle, police said.

The other men were released and DaBaby was arrested and jailed. He was freed later Thursday after posting $35,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

An email sent to DaBaby’s representatives seeking comment was not immediately returned.

The North Carolina rapper’s song “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch, was one of the biggest hits of 2020, and is nominated for a Grammy Award for record of the year.

DaBaby’s last two albums, 2019’s “Kirk” and 2020’s “Blame It on Baby,” both reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

His arrest Thursday came a year after a misdemeanour battery arrest in Miami after a dispute with a club owner over payment for a performance, police said. DaBaby denied involvement in the fight.

In 2019, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour charge of carrying a concealed weapon after a fatal shooting at a Walmart in Huntersville, North Carolina.

The Associated Press