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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Police Department has issued a warrant for the arrest of a Memphis rapper by the name Finesse2Tymes for stealing a rental car.
The video above is from ABC13’s Live Streaming Channel.
The rapper, whose legal name is Ricky Hampton, is charged with theft between $30,000 and $150,000, which is a felony.
Charging documents state a man, by the name of Ronald Bell, rented an Infiniti QX80 SUV valued at $72,200 on Feb. 28, 2023 from an Enterprise location on Braeswood Boulevard. The car was supposed to be returned on March 10, 2023.
A month after the vehicle was due back, a 10-day demand letter was sent to Bell by Enterprise.
On April 20, an employee of Enterprise spoke with Bell over the phone, according to court records, who said the rapper “Finesse2Tymes” was driving the vehicle. Bell called Hampton on a three-way call with the employee that day.
According to records, Hampton said he was in Atlanta with the car and would have it resolved by April 23. The rapper reportedly told the employee that his Zelle was “tied up” and he could send her money in the following days. The employee said they needed the car returned immediately.
Court records show Hampton said he would find an Enterprise branch in Atlanta and return it on April 20.
When the car was not returned by April 24, it was listed as stolen.
Investigators ran the vehicle’s license on license plate reading databases and discovered the car was spotted driving around the Houston area on April 24.
The investigator noted that the vehicle was spotted on another license plate reading database traveling around a known recording/music studio near the Fifth Ward at “different dates and times,” according to the charging document.
Police found the vehicle outside the recording studio on April 25 and saw a woman enter it and drive away.
When officers pulled the vehicle over and asked her how she got the car, she said she “got the keys from her boss, who she only knows as “Finesse2Tymes.”
According to charging documents, she told the officer that she had been hired by the rapper a few days before and had been using the car to run his errands. The woman told police she knew the vehicle was a rental and was due back a few days prior.
Hampton has not been arrested in the case.
A motion for sufficient bond filed in the case shows the 31-year-old was released from federal prison in 2022 for a weapons charge and is currently on supervised release until June 2025.