Charlotte rapper Dababy skips court appearance following citation after concert

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte native and Grammy-nominated rapper DaBaby did not attend his court appearance Tuesday after he was detained and cited following a concert a Bojangles Coliseum in December.

Shortly after the rapper, whose real name is Jonathan Kirk, hit the stage for a rescheduled performance at the Bojangles Coliseum, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department detained and cited him for possession of marijuana.

Hours earlier, he partnered with several local groups to make sure hundreds of kids received Christmas presents.

Police said Kirk pulled into the coliseum in a white Dodge Charger and when he went inside to perform, they smelled a “strong odor of marijuana” coming from the car.

According to CMPD, officers then used flashlights to look inside the car windows and spotted marijuana in plain view.

Officers said when Kirk got off stage, they tried to talk to him about the marijuana, but he walked away and refused to talk to them.

Police said Kirk was then put in handcuffs and taken to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, where he was issued two citations for misdemeanor possession of marijuana and resist, obstruct and delay.

He was later released.

His attorney handled the citation in court Tuesday.

We caught up with Kirk outside the jail, and he said he never resisted arrest and that his production team caught the entire exchange on camera.

“So what we got is high-quality audio and video of me doing everything but resisting arrest before they just brought me down here, and we will be airing it out,” he said.

Kirk said he will release the video of the incident on his Instagram to show what happened.

“Ya’ll will see how dirty the CMPD police department did me during the holidays in front of my daughter while I was putting a show on for my city,” he said.

Charlotte rapper DaBaby says he feels targeted by CMPD Charlotte rapper DaBaby says he feels targeted by CMPD

The rapper told Channel 9 that officers illegally searched his car while he was on stage. He said he feels unfairly targeted every time he returns home.

“Every time. There’s nobody when I pull up in the parking lot, the second I get out the car, 15 cops come around,” he said.

CMPD said it has launched an Internal Affairs investigation to determine if officers followed department policies and directives during the incident.

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