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Cops Don't Buy Beanie Story
08/16/2006 6:24 PM, E! Online
Josh Grossberg
It's safe to say that Philly cops don't have much brotherly love
for Beanie Sigel.
Philadelphia detectives are accusing the
plus-sized rap star of lying to them about being held up and shot in the
shoulder a block from his boyhood home back in May.
Investigators tell the Philadelphia Daily News that Sigel's story
doesn't check out and his credibility was further strained after he took
to the airwaves last Friday night for a two-hour interview on The
Aphilliates: The Streetz Is Watchin', a weekly program on Sirius
Satellite Radio, and basically admitted he made it up.
"My
getting shot and somebody robbing me! Negative," the 32-year-old
hip-hopster told listeners. "I am on federal parole, so I can't get into
details, but give me another nine months and I will tell y'all exactly
what the deal was."
Those remarks didn't sit well with
Philly's Finest.
"There's a million-and-one holes in his
story," Tracy Byard, one of the detectives working the case, told the
Daily News. "But because he's a rapper, he is not going to
cooperate with police. It goes against everything he stands for."
Per the police report, Sigel (real name:Dwight Clark) told
investigators that he had been partying at Z-Bar, a nightclub in South
Philly, until about 3:30 a.m. on May 25. He said he dropped a friend off
at home and then observed that two other cars were following him.
After arriving at 22nd and McClellan Street near Sigel, the
road that inspired his stage name, he claimed he was cornered by four
gun-wielding men who swiped his $75,000 watch and $3,000 in cash.
The rapper said after relieving him of his belongings, one of
his assailants drew a gun and fired twice, striking the emcee on his
upper left arm. Sigel said he managed to make it into his Chevy Impala
and get away, eventually checking himself into the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania shortly after 7 a.m., where he was treated
and released the same day.
According to Byard, however,
Beanie's story falls apart from the get-go.
First, police
were unable to find anybody who witnessed the shooting, let alone heard
gunfire, and forensics also failed to find shell casings at the
purported crime scene.
Further, Byard noted, Sigel wasn't
alone as he claimed when he checked into the hospital.
"There's video of him inside the hospital with another guy. You see them
walking up to the emergency room and talking and then Beanie hands the
guy something," Byard continued.
The Jay-Z protege also
reportedly quarreled with officers who tried to snap some photos of his
wound and question him about the mugging.
With so little
to go on, investigators will probably have to wait for new Beanie raps
to glean any viable info.
During the Sirius show, Sigel,
whose albums include 2001's The Reason and 2005's The B.
Coming, dropped a few hints about what went down that morning on a
new track titled "Why Wouldn't I?" that's currently making the rounds
on several mix tapes.
"You n---er popped/You should have
got me good/Where I'm from it's understood/If you grab hold of that
smoke pole/You better hold that s--t with a chokehold/Empty out quick
then reload," he raps.
Sigel's attorney, Fortunato Perri
Jr., did not return phone calls seeking comment. However, he told the
Daily News that his client was ready to move on.
"I
think as far as he's concerned, it's come to a conclusion," Perri said.
"I don't know that he believes anyone will ever be apprehended. He put
the incident behind him and has moved on with his life."
During his radio appearance, Sigel said, "I am gonna lock myself in the
studio for two months and I'm gonna put out a double CD.
"I ain't answering questions. Wait till my album drops."
Sigel has kept the authorities busy over the years.
In
August 2005, he was released after spending a year in a New Jersey
prison on federal gun and drug charges. In an unrelated case, he was
acquitted in 2004 of allegedly shooting and killing a man outside a
Philadelphia strip club after the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was
declared. And last November, Sigel was jailed for failing to pay child
support.
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