Justin Bieber reportedly “ignored” the advice of his manager Scooter Braun and other in his inner circle to boot his pal Lil Za from his Calabasas, CA mansion, just months before the rapper was arrested at the singer’s home in an egging-related police raid on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old star is now embroiled in a sordid story by association.
“People close to Justin had wanted Lil Za out of the picture, but obviously Justin makes his own decisions,” the insider told Radar Online .
Police descended on Bieber’s $6.5 million pad early Tuesday in search of evidence linking him to an egg-throwing incident reported by his neighbor last Thursday. While cops were searching Bieber’s they came across drugs “in plain view” in an area used by Lil Za.
Lil Za’s real name is Xavier Smith.
At a post-raid news conference, Lt. David Thompson said Bieber is “not connected” to the drugs that were found.
Lil Za was subsequently arrested and later charged on suspicion of felony drug possession for what turned out to be MDMA, which is a form of Ecstasy commonly known as “Molly.” Xanax is also thought to figure.
The 20-year-old was arrested a second time and charged with felony vandalism after he lost his temper while talking on a holding cell phone in the police station he was taken to.
The rapper’s original $20,000 bail was reset to $50,000 after the second arrest, the New York Daily News reports.
Warning signs about Lil Za and Lil Twist , another mutual rapper friend have been flagged for a while, but matters came to a head back last September between Braun and Bieber over the company he keeps.
Radar first reported that older members of Justin’s entourage had “had it” with Lil Za and Lil Twist, after their house-sitting at Bieber’s led to recurring tensions with other residents in the neighborhood. These included traffic citations by the rappers while driving the singer’s cars, and reportedly hosting raucous parties.
“Lil Twist and Lil Za were ordered by Scooter to vacate Justin’s house,” a source close to the situation shared with the website.
The insider added, “He wanted them out last September and they were even set up with their own apartments. But it never happened. Scooter desperately wanted to clean house.”
Last October it was reported Bieber finally had enough of the rappers and evicted them from his home after jewlry went missing from his property. But while Twist appears to have been permanently cut out of the Canadian’s life judging by the furious Twitter tirade he launched against Braun last November, Lil Za seems to have remained in the fold .
Meanwhile, Bieber remains a suspect in the felony vandalism and assault investigation which was raised from a misdemeanor after the neighbor submitted $20,000 worth of damages he claims resulted from Bieber’s alleged egging of his house. Under California rules, damages greater than $400 qualify as a felony.
Amateur video footage of the egging was posted by TMZ. It revealed an expletive-filled row between a man with an unseen male — allegedly Justin.
According to reports, police removed hard drives from the singer’s state-of-the-art home security system pertaining to the egg-incident time-frame and also took other items for examination.
Citing sources, TMZ claims police seized cell Bieber’s phone during the raid as they want to see if incriminating texts about the egging were sent.
This has allegedly left him “worried they could find naked pictures” or “drug references” on the device and that they will be leaked.
For his part, Lil Za was released from jail late Tuesday evening after posting bail.
After tweeting that he was “fine” the same night, earlier today the rapper posted three tweets in an effort to explain himself.
Honestly, the media is making me someone I’m not. But only those in my shoes can relate…. These ppl get paid to make you look bad.
— Gunzo (@LilZa) January 16, 2014
Some stuff I’ve done has been wrong yes. but look at the position I’m in and the color of my skin. Cocaine? Really?
— Gunzo (@LilZa) January 16, 2014
All this time I was home in tx nobody gave a fuck about what Za is doing..soon as he gets to La he’s all over the news
— Gunzo (@LilZa) January 16, 2014