T.I. found himself in handcuffs over the weekend in an unfortunate case of mistaken identity.
According to TMZ, the rap legend was arrested at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on Sunday night (August 4) after police mistook him for a stalking suspect.
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The culprit they were after, who also happens to be called Clifford Harris, was wanted in Baltimore, Maryland on allegations of stalking and violent behavior towards a woman, possibly involving a gun.
T.I. was taken from the airport to Clayton County Jail, roughly an hour away. Because the warrant was issued outside of the state of Georgia, the arrest triggered an automatic extradition hearing.
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Fortunately for Tip, he was released within two hours of his arrest after his attorney Steve Sadow contacted the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office.
The extradition order was also dismissed after being reviewed by a judge.
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While he was clearly innocent in this particular case, T.I. is no stranger to brushes with the law.
In 2009, he was sentenced to one year and one day in prison after pleading guilty to purchasing machine guns from an undercover federal agent, a signifantly lenier sentence compared to the maximum 10 years he would have otherwise been facing.
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Just a year later, the Grand Hustle general wound up back behind bars after being arrested on drug charges. The charges were eventually dropped, but he still spent 11 months in prison for violating his probation.
The ensuing years have seen T.I. struggle to stay on the straight and narrow. In 2018, he was arrested over an alleged confrontation with a security guard of his gated community, while two years later he was charged over his alleged role in a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO).
The 43-year-old and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, have also faced a string of civil lawsuits relating to allegations of forced drugging, kidnapping, rape and intimidation.
A suit filed earlier this accused the couple of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at a Los Angeles hotel in 2005.
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In a statement to HipHopDX at the time, T.I. and Tiny denied the allegations, saying: “This plaintiff has been threatening to file this lawsuit for three years. For three years, we have emphatically and categorically denied these allegations.
“For three years we have maintained our innocence and refused to pay these extortionate demands for things we didn’t do. For three years, we’ve maintained the same position while the claims in this story have changed time and time again.”
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They continued: “Our position is clear… We are innocent of these fake claims, we will not be shaken down, and we look forward to our day in court.”
