Top5’s five-month escape from justice ended Thursday when he was arrested in Los Angeles.
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Toronto’s most wanted rapper is now behind bars.
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Hassan Ali, better known to Toronto hip-hop fans as Top5, was taken into custody Thursday by the Los Angeles Police Department with a provisional arrest warrant.
The details of his arrest are not yet known.
Ali gained infamy by taunting investigators and communicating regularly with fans via Instagram Live while fleeing a murder charge, charged with the January 31 shooting death of 20-year-old Hashim Omar Hashi.
Hashi, who police say had no criminal record or gang ties, was shot while driving into the parking lot at 40 Falstaff Ave., near Jane St. and Hwy. 401.
The getaway car used by the gunman was later found on fire in Earl Bales Park, near Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. W.
Ali was originally charged in February with aiding and abetting after the fact and, despite objections from both the police and the Crown, was released the following month on strict conditions, including an ankle monitor and orders to stay out of the net. social.
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Shortly before police upgraded his charges to first-degree murder in May, Ali allegedly cut off his ankle monitor and left town, with rumors of his whereabouts ranging from Toronto to western Canada.
However, he did not let the leak interfere with his music career – releasing new music and even a music video while on the run.
Ali made regular appearances on social media, including frequent broadcasts on Instagram Live, where he mocked both the police and his rivals, and also denied that he was a fugitive or that the police were looking for him.
“I didn’t cut my bracelet,” he said during a June broadcast.
“I’m not on the W, I don’t know why you think I’m on the W.”
In a July broadcast, he demanded a meeting with Toronto Mayor John Tory.
“Call John Tory and tell him that I f—— I want a meeting of f—— 30 minutes,” Ali told fans when commenting on his legal issues. “I want to spit out my facts, and he will spit out his facts. I run Toronto, damn it. “
An Instagram story posted on the Top5 account on Friday morning simply read, “The process has just begun.”
Ali was an emerging and controversial figure on the Toronto hip-hop scene.
His first taste of fame came in 2014 through a mention of Toronto hip-hop mainstay Drake, and he gave Ali recognition on Instagram for his song. Shawty shirt.
In August 2020, Top5 stopped traffic on 401 while filming a scene for a never-released music video.
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A video clip posted to Top5’s Instagram shows Ali performing on the live lanes of the eastbound collector’s lanes, just east of Jane St., with the Fallstaff community housing complex as a backdrop.
That stunt resulted in the OPP slapping Ali on a mischief charge.
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On twitter: @bryanpassifiume
Reference-torontosun.com