DaBaby knocked man’s tooth out in ‘unprovoked attack,’ lawsuit says

Joe Marusak
·4 min read

Charlotte rapper DaBaby and some of his associates are accused of beating and robbing a vacation rental home owner near Hollywood Hills, Calif., and breaking COVID-19 crowding rules to boot, a lawsuit said.

The 29-year-old rapper “sucker-punched” and bloodied Gary Pagar, the 64-year-old homeowner, and knocked his tooth out in the “unprovoked attack” on Dec. 2, Pagar said in his lawsuit filed on Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Charlotte rapper DaBaby, shown at the 2020 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, and some of his associates are accused of beating and robbing a vacation rental home owner near Hollywood Hills, Calif., and breaking COVID-19 crowding rules to boot, a lawsuit said.
Charlotte rapper DaBaby, shown at the 2020 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, and some of his associates are accused of beating and robbing a vacation rental home owner near Hollywood Hills, Calif., and breaking COVID-19 crowding rules to boot, a lawsuit said.

DaBaby also broke California COVID-19 rules by letting dozens of people into the home that day, according to the lawsuit.

And the rapper violated terms of the contract he signed to rent the home by having a commercial film crew shoot a video there, Pagar said.

“No sooner had they arrived, then they brought 40 people and a commercial film crew to the property,” according to the lawsuit. “When Mr. Pagar asked them to stop, they beat and battered him, stole his phone by force so he couldn’t call the police, and threatened him.”

The group vandalized his house and left with various items they’d stolen, Pagar said in the lawsuit.

Photo shows assault, lawsuit says

The lawsuit refers to DaBaby by his real name, Jonathan Lyndale Kirk.

A photo included in the lawsuit shows a man described as a Kirk associate standing over Pagar, who is kneeling face down. The associate was beating Pagar, according to the lawsuit, as Kirk watched from a red car in the background in the photo.

Pagar was walking up his driveway when a Kirk associate attacked him “without warning,” the lawsuit said.

About 30 people stood and watched the beating, Pagar said in the lawsuit. “None lifted a finger” to stop the attack, he said.

Taunting and laughing

“Instead, they laughed, pointed and filmed the scene,” according to the lawsuit. “Their behavior was cowardly and despicable. An honorable man would have intervened.”

Kirk left the car and pulled his associate off Pagar, the lawsuit said. “But he didn’t do so to protect Mr. Pagar,” according to the lawsuit. “He did so in order that he could taunt, threaten and punch” him.

Next, Kirk took Pagar’s phone and chased him into the house, where Kirk told him: “You better not call the police,” according to the lawsuit.

Sucker-punch and lost tooth

The rapper then “sucker-punched” Pagar in the face, “bloodying” him and “knocking out a tooth,” Pagar said in the lawsuit.

“Mr. Kirk appears to think he’s a real tough guy,” the lawsuit said. “Mr Kirk is wrong.”

A “colleague” of Pagar’s called 911 from her phone as Kirk and his associates “laughed, taunted Mr. Pagar and tossed his stolen phone back and forth,” according to the lawsuit.

Damaged house, stolen kitchenware

When Pagar told the group that police would soon arrive, “they all quickly fled the scene, leaving behind a damaged house, and stealing valuable kitchenware as they left,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and an unspecified amount of damages.

DaBaby did not reply to a request for comment on Friday by The Charlotte Observer and has said nothing about the lawsuit on social media.

The rapper was nominated in November for four 2021 Grammy Awards. The ceremony is scheduled to air on March 14.

Although he was nominated last year as well, DaBaby has never won a Grammy.

Past criminal charges

DaBaby has faced previous encounters with the law, including:

▪ An arrest in Beverly Hills, Calif., in January on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle. A security guard at a Gucci store on Rodeo Drive called 911 about a man who had a gun in his waistband in the store, police said.

▪ A June 2020 conviction in Mecklenburg County Court on a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon. The charge stemmed from the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Jalyn Domonique Craig of Charlotte during a fight in a Huntersville Walmart. DaBaby said he was innocent, that he was shopping with his 1- and 5-year-old children and their mother when someone pulled a gun “and tried to take my life”

▪ A December 2019 misdemeanor marijuana citation by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police after he performed at Bojangles Coliseum. The citation prompted a CMPD Internal Affairs investigation into potential racial profiling. DaBaby told reporters that police officers “absolutely” targeted him and “unlawfully searched” his car.

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