Video Surfaces of Benzino’s 2020 Arrest for Denting a Man’s Truck During Fight Over a Woman – Watch
Video footage of Benzino's 2020 arrest for criminal damage to property stemming from a dispute over his former girlfriend has surfaced on the internet.
On Sunday (April 10), YouTube channel Real World Police posted the nearly hour-long dash cam video, which shows the entire scene unfold. In the beginning of the clip, an unnamed man—a retired firefighter from Dallas—who is listed as the "date" of Benzino's ex-girlfriend, Althea Eaton, whom he starred on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta with back in 2014, is speaking with both Benzino and Braselton, Ga. police.
"I don't fight," the man said to Benzino, who replied, "What you do? I got guns, too, pussy."
The hip-hop veteran then told the officers on the scene, "You hear this muthafucka threatening me? He said he's going to shoot me now." ’Zino is then guided into a police car and offered to sit in the backseat to receive some air conditioning. He wasn't arrested at this point.
After the aggressive exchange of words between the man and Benzino, the man explained his side of what took place near Eaton's home in Braselton, Ga.'s Chateau Elan neighborhood, which is within Gwinnett County, a suburb of Atlanta.
"I'm visiting, I just met her," he said. "So I go walking, we go walking. I don't know if she's married to this dude. We get back, he's there. [At the house] right there waiting. And so I'm like, 'What's going on?' He comes running at me."
The man continued, "So I'm trying not to fight him, shoot him. I'm licensed to carry," adding, "He kicks a big dent in my truck on the side door."
The man also confirmed to police that he wanted to press charges against Benzino for the damage done to his car and for the threats that Benzino made to him.
The camera footage then switches over to Benzino, who told another officer that he was at Althea's home to pick up the then-4-year-old son they share. The son was in the neighborhood at the time playing tennis before things took a major turn for the worse between Benzino and the man who was visiting Althea Eaton.
A little under 30 minutes into the footage, Benzino gets emotional and appears to begin crying in the video, reiterating that the man involved in the incident said he's going to pull out a gun on him. However, an officer corrected ’Zino, saying that the man actually stated that he doesn't fight. It appears that Benzino might have drawn his own conclusions regarding that the man said to him during their dispute.
Shortly after, Benzino was taken into police custody for damaging the man's vehicle.
While in cuffs, Benzino cried out to Althea, "You snitched on me. I can't believe you, Althea. As much as I've done for you. I can't fuckin' believe you."
According to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution on Aug. 6, 2020, Benzino was hit with a criminal charge for hitting and leaving two dents in the man's 2018 Chevy Silverado on July 31, 2020.
Benzino was reportedly released from custody on Aug. 5, 2020 after posting a $8,450 bond.
XXL has reached out to Gwinnett County Police Department for confirmation on Benzino's arrest.
Last week, Benzino also found himself in the news cycle after his daughter, Coi Leray, accused him of threatening her and her mother following an interview Coi did with The Breakfast Club Coi where she claimed her dad was broke after The Source magazine went bankrupt.
Watch police bodycam footage from Benzino’s 2020 arrest beginning at the 29:30-mark below.