Swedish Police Holds American Rapper A$AP Rocky In Custody

ASAP Rocky

On Friday a court in Sweden has decided to put American Rapper ASAP Rocky in custody on suspicion of alleged assault which he was arrested for after getting involved in a street brawl in Stockholm. The Rapper was detained earlier this week along with 3 other suspects believed to be involved in the incident, which occurred on Sunday and was partly captured in a video published by US celebrity news outlet TMZ. In the video, the rapper, who was in Stockholm for a concert, could be seen throwing a young man onto the streets, then threw several punches at the young him while the man was on the ground.

ASAP Rocky — whose real name is Rakim Mayers — on Tuesday posted his own videos on Instagram, which he said showed the lead up to the clash. In the video he posted, the young man could be seen arguing with the rapper over a pair of headphones, and the artist repeatedly asks that the man and his friends to stop following them. One of the four people arrested, a bodyguard who was also suspected of assault, was released Wednesday and the investigation against him was closed.

Swedish prosecutor Fredrik Karlsson on Thursday filed a request with the Stockholm District Court to keep the rapper and two others in custody owing to “a flight risk and a risk that if released, they could sabotage the investigation”. The court said Friday it did not feel there was a risk he could sabotage the investigation but agreed there was a “flight risk”. The prosecutor had originally asked the court to detain Mayers on suspicion of aggravated assault, but the court opted for assault, a less serious offence.

Karlsson spoke to reporters following the decision that he still felt the incident amounted to aggravated assault. “That’s because there are multiple people attacking a person that is lying down and that it seems they also used weapons,” Karlsson said. Mayers could be held in custody for up to 2 weeks while the case is under investigation. After that, it would require another hearing to extend his detention. The rapper was on a tour in Europe and was scheduled to perform in Dublin and London this weekend. He has already cancelled shows in Norway and Poland.

ASAP Rocky was born in New York and had his major breakthrough in 2011 with the release of A mixtape “Live. Love. ASAP”. He followed that up in 2013 with the debut album “Long. Live. ASAP”. Photo Credit: Getty

Leave a Reply