Los Angeles investigators Wednesday testified in the ongoing federal trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York City as they recalled the findings of their investigations linked to rapper Kid Cudi more than a decade ago.
Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, had testified last week that he became a target of a break-in and Molotov cocktail attack in Hollywood Hills because of his relationship with Cassie Ventura, Combs’ girlfriend. Ventura also testified that Combs threatened to hurt Cudi and blow up his car.
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WATCH HEREOfficer Chris Ignacio, a 16-year veteran with the LAPD, took the stand as the first witness Wednesday and recalled getting a call about a possible break-in at Cudi’s Hollywood Hills home in late 2011.
The officer testified when he entered the rapper’s house, he saw a table with Christmas gifts. Cudi had testified he believes Combs broke into his house and opened gifts he'd purchased for his family.
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SIGN UP Ignacio also testified that he saw a Cadillac Escalade in front of the home, and the car’s license plate was registered to Bad Boy Productions, Inc., one of Combs’ companies.
The officer said while a trespassing report was made, he and his team did not have a confirmed case of burglary or any other crime at that time.
Ignacio also added there was no evidence or reports of stolen items when responding to the defense attorney’s questions. The LAPD officer also testified there were no reports made to him at the time that there was a threat to kill anyone.
When LAFD arson investigator Lance Jimenez took the stand, he said he was dispatched to Cudi’s home on Jan. 9, 2021 and found the rapper Porsche with a foot-long cut on its canvas top in an apparent “targeted crime.”
As Jimenez recalled seeing the Molotov cocktail, which didn’t cause extensive damage inside the car, the investigator testified the fingerprints lifted from investigation were destroyed.
The testimony about the lost fingerprints prompted the defense to call for a mistrial as Comb’s legal team accused the prosecution of misconduct over the implication that Combs may have destroyed fingerprint evidence.
But Judge Arun Subramanian denied the motion for a mistrial.
The LAFD investigator also testified that he could not reach Cassie Ventura or Combs’ ex-assistant Capricorn Clark when he tried to interview them.
Following the LAFD and LAPD’s testimony, a celebrity stylist took the stand in describing what he saw between Combs and Ventura, including a violent encounter during which an enraged Combs allegedly grabbed Ventura by the hair and kicked her.
Meanwhile, NBC News confirmed that Cassie Ventura gave birth Tuesday, roughly two weeks after she took the stand as a witness in Sean Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial.
The baby is her third with her husband, Alex Fine. Ventura announced the pregnancy in an Instagram post featuring black-and-white photos of their family, including the couple’s two young daughters.
