HOUSTON – Popular Memphis rapper Finesse2Tymes has been charged with theft after authorities said he did not return a vehicle to an Enterprise Rent-a-Car location in Houston, according to court documents signed Monday.
Court documents said on April 25, Finesse2Tymes, whose real name is Ricky Leshay Hampton, was unlawfully “exercising control over property, namely, a motor vehicle” that was “of the value of at least $30,000 and less than $150,000” in Harris County.
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An officer with the Houston Police Department was allegedly told by an Enterprise Holdings employee that an Infinity QX80 SUV valued at $72,200 was rented out by another person on February 28, and was supposed to be returned on March 10. After a month, a 10-day demand letter was sent to that person and police learned that the vehicle was listed as stolen on April 24, documents said.
HPD said they learned that on April 20, the Enterprise employee reached out to the person who originally rented the vehicle. That person told them he wasn’t the one driving the car and that Hampton was actually driving it. After the original renter admitted that to the employee, court documents said they got on a three-way call and Hampton told them he was in Atlanta with the vehicle and he would return that Sunday.
The employee reportedly told the rapper that “was not an option,” and the vehicle needed to be returned immediately. Hampton allegedly told the employee his Zelle account was “tied up” but that he would send her some money that Friday. Court documents said the rapper told the employee he would return the vehicle at an Enterprise branch in Atlanta that day, but on April 24, the employee found out that he didn’t.
After running the vehicle’s license plate, police said someone was driving it around northeast Houston near a recording studio on April 24.
On April 25, police said they saw a woman get inside the vehicle in the 3400 block of Liberty Road at around 11:25 a.m. When the woman was stopped in the 2400 block of Kingston Street, investigators said she told them her boss, known as Finesse2Tymes, gave her the keys. According to documents, the woman said she had been running errands in the vehicle and that she knew the vehicle was supposed to have been returned a few days prior.
Hampton is currently signed to Atlantic Records. He is known for his hit song “Back End.”