Atlanta-based rapper Silento was arrested on multiple traffic charges after police reportedly clocked him driving 143 mph on I-85 early Friday.
The 22-year-old rapper told police he was speeding because he is a celebrity, saying “people be following me wherever I go,” according to an incident report obtained by AJC.com.
Silento, whose real name is Richard Lamar Hawk, was pulled over about 3 a.m. after an officer spotted him driving at a “high rate of speed” in his 2020 BMW X3, the incident report said.
“I placed a laser dot on the vehicle and received a readout of 143 mph in a 65-mph zone,” the report said.
Hawk reportedly sped up, slowed down, changed lanes and swerved before pulling over in the area of I-85 and I-285.
The officer approached the SUV, and the “Watch Me” rapper rolled down his window, handed over his driver’s license and said he hadn’t done anything wrong, according to the incident report.
When the officer said he had observed the vehicle driving at dangerous speeds, Hawk claimed it was because people followed him everywhere he went.
“The driver stated that he was coming from Gwinnett (County) and that people were following him and that he left from the club,” the report said.
Hawk replied that his celebrity status justified his driving and urged the officer to read his license, the report said.
“If there is like 10 cars following me, I can do 143 because I am not a regular person, and you could go look on your computer and it would tell you that," the incident report said.
Police arrested Hawk and took him to the DeKalb County Jail. He is charged with exceeding maximum speed limits, driving on roadways laned for traffic, reckless driving and stopping, standing or parking in a prohibited space.
Hawk was released at noon Friday, jail records show.
The charges come on the heels of two domestic violence incidents that resulted in the artist being arrested.
On Aug. 28, Hawk was taken to jail after a disturbance was reported at a Santa Ana home in Orange County, California, according to the reports. He was charged with inflicting corporal punishment on a spouse or cohabitant.
Within a day of his release, Hawk was involved in another domestic disturbance involving a hatchet. The rapper reportedly went to a home in the Valley Village neighborhood outside of Los Angeles with the weapon in hand. The homeowners told police they did not know him but said Hawk claimed to be looking for his girlfriend. He was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
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