Jahshii not in police custody

Stephanie Lyew

STAR Writer

Senior communications strategist at the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Dennis Brooks has confirmed that recording artiste Jahshii is not and was never in police custody.

This after various news reports that the artiste was taken into custody after police stopped an event in Clarendon on Christmas Eve. According to Brooks, the Clarendon police were conducting a patrol when they arrived upon the event only to realise that "it was a massive event" with a stage set up and an entertainer performing.

"Persons fled, including the person who was on stage. There were 32 persons taken into custody and charged under the DRMA [Disaster Risk Management Act], and, essentially, persons began to report and say that he [Jahshii] was amongst those who were arrested and charged. But when we checked the names of the persons who were arrested and charged, his name was not on the list," Brooks said.

"We were at all material times investigating the event, the promoting of the event and who was on the stage. The investigations or the probe into the matter continues, and so it may turn out that he was the entertainer who ran from the stage, but again, he was not in lock-up, and he was never," he continued.

According to Jahshii's road manager, who gives his name as Maverik, the artiste did not spend Christmas Day in lock-up as was being circulated.

"Well, Jahshii is okay, the news is false," he told THE STAR. A viral video allegedly taken by a patron at the event shows patrons scattering when a member of the JCF in a brown uniform gets on stage during Jahshii's performance.The entertainer also subsequently used his Instagram account to repost videos of his performance.

Maverik confirmed that the Cream Of The Crop artiste was booked and present for the show but insisted that "there was no altercation with him and the police at all".

Jahshii, whose given name is Mluleki Tafari Clarke, had described the police as being corrupt in a recent interview with Entertainment Report's Anthony Miller. This placed him under the public microscope and left many criticising him that his overall actions would cause future issues with local law enforcement. Several entertainers have since defended the up-and-coming deejay.