Soulja Boy has been released from custody two nights after his arrest during a traffic stop in Los Angeles, with prosecutors determining that there’s not enough evidence to charge the rapper with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The 35-year-old “Crank That” rapper (DeAndre Cortez Way) was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning (Aug. 3) while riding in the passenger seat of a vehicle that was pulled over in West Hollywood, Calif. Police said they spotted a gun in the car and booked Soulja Boy on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm (the rapper has a criminal record for previous weapons violations).
But Soulja Boy was released from custody just before 2 p.m. PT on Tuesday (Aug. 5) after prosecutors opted not to bring charges against him, according to city jail records. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office tells Billboard, “A case was declined due to insufficient evidence.”
The rapper tacitly celebrated his release with an Instagram story, writing, “First day out” against a plain black backdrop. Soulja Boy’s legal reps did not immediately return a request for comment.
Soulja Boy was convicted in 2014 for carrying a loaded firearm in public. While he was initially sentenced to probation, the rapper was later arrested for violating the terms of that probation and served 240 days behind bars in 2019.
He’s also faced a series of civil lawsuits for alleged sexual assault and domestic abuse in the years since the success of “Crank That,” which spawned a viral dance craze and spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 2007.
Soulja Boy has already lost two trials over these abuse allegations, and he’s facing down jury verdicts totaling more than $4 million in cases brought by his ex-girlfriend Kayla Myers and an anonymous former personal assistant. Another anonymous ex-girlfriend has a pending civil lawsuit claiming Soulja Boy beat her while she was pregnant with their child.
