Video footage of rapper, TV personality and businessman Benzino’s 2020 arrest following an altercation over his ex-girlfriend has surfaced.
In the dashcam video, posted by the Real World Police YouTube channel on Apr. 10, Benzino, whose real name is Raymond Leon Scott, was seen arguing with a man listed as the “date” of Scott’s ex and son’s mother, Althea Eaton. In season three of VH1’s hit reality show, Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, Eaton starred with the rapper in 2014.
“Don’t start talking tough now,” the 56-year-old said to the unnamed man, identified as a retired Dallas firefighter.
“I’m not. I don’t [want to] take [anyone] out either,” he responded. “I don’t fight.”
“What you do? I got guns, too, pussy,” Scott then said. “You hear this muthaf***a threatening me? He said he’s going to shoot me now,” he told officers at the scene.
Shortly afterward, Braselton, Ga. authorities walked him to a nearby police car and told him to sit in the backseat to cool off.
Meanwhile, they allowed the retired firefighter to explain the events that led to his heated exchange with Scott.
“I’m visiting. I just met [Althea], so I go walking; we go walking. I don’t know if she’s married to [Benzino]. We get back, [and] he’s [at the house] waiting, so I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ and he comes running at me. I’m trying not to fight him [or] shoot him. I’m licensed to carry.”
He added that he wanted to press charges against the Boston native for threatening him and damaging his 2018 Chevy Silverado.
“He [kicked] a big dent in my truck on the side door.”
According to reports, Scott was charged with one count of criminal damage in the second degree and one count of disorderly conduct after hitting and denting the unnamed man’s truck on Jul. 31, 2020. He was reportedly released from custody on Aug. 5, 2020, after posting an $8,450 bond following his detainment at Gwinnett County Jail.
The video then focused on Scott, who told another police officer that he visited Eaton’s home in Braselton’s Chateau Elan neighborhood to pick up their then-four-year-old son, Zino Antonio Scott. He began to cry, saying his ex-girlfriend’s alleged visitor said he would pull a gun out on him, but officers said the man told him that he didn’t fight.
The Love & Hip Hop star was then arrested and, while handcuffed, shouted, “You snitched on me. I can’t believe you, Althea. As much as I’ve done for you, I can’t f**kin’ believe you.”
The two separated in 2015 after one year of drama-filled dating and being engaged. They appeared on season four of WeTV’s Marriage Bootcamp.
They also appeared in TV One’s first and only season of The Next: 15 in 2016 and OWN’s Love Goals in 2020. Although the pair seemed to have gotten back together during that time, they didn’t officially confirm that they did.