Although the Los Angeles Times Times originally reported Nipsey Hussle was at the center of a Los Angeles Police Department investigation, the LAPD is reportedly denying those reports.
TMZ says Neighborhood Nip was “not going to be prosecuted for any type of gang activity at the time of his death.” The LAPD was simply attempting to curb gang activity around the area of Crenshaw and Slauson, where Nip’s Marathon Clothing store was located.
Sources close to the LAPD and Los Angeles City Attorney say they were never targeting Nipsey. However, no one from either agency could explain why Nipsey’s name was initially mentioned.
[This article has been updated. The following was published on July 16, 2019.]
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Nipsey Hussle’s tragic shooting death in March undoubtedly left a huge hole in not only the rap community but also the Los Angeles community. But according to a new Los Angeles Times article, the slain MC was still the subject of a LAPD investigation at the time of his death.
Officials in the Police Department and city attorney’s office were reportedly looking into his alleged gang affiliations. They were investigating Nipsey, his property and business associates in an effort to determine if the strip mall at the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue was a gang activity hub.
That same intersection was the location of Nip’s Marathon Clothing store and sadly, the very spot his life was taken on March 31.
The LAPD’s investigation will continue in the wake of Nip’s passing, meaning there’s a possibility authorities could take action against his business partners.
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Although the city pressured Nip’s former landlords to evict the Grammy Award-nominated rapper and his associates as part of the investigation, the landlords instead sold the property to Hussle and a group of investors for $2.5 million earlier this year.
Despite his Rollin ’60s Crips affiliations, Nipsey rightfully earned the nickname “Neighborhood Nip.” Before his murder, he was working with the city to reduce gang violence.
The 33-year-old intended to build new apartments, which was considered an “important investment” in the neighborhood in the face of gentrification. He often offered gang affiliates jobs and tried to help former inmates who had served prison time for gang-related crimes.
