RICHMOND — Until this week, a popular North Richmond rapper had been out on bail with a pending gun case in San Joaquin County and two pending police chase cases in Contra Costa, authorities say.
Then he allegedly did it again.
Now, 31-year-old Claudie Easley IV, aka Bla$ta, is back in custody, this time without bail, facing a new felony charge of evading police. Authorities say that back in January, he led Hercules police on a brief 120-mph chase, which the pursuing officers discontinued to avoid someone getting hurt. But police say Easley had the window of his Cadillac sedan down, and one of the cops got a good look at his face.
Easley was arrested Wednesday in Tracy. Prosecutors filed the new case against him on Thursday, records show.
With this new case, Easley has now racked up a felony police chase charge in each of the past three years, and all three cases remain pending. In 2022, he was charged with leading the cops on a car chase through Rodeo on Oct. 21, 2021. Then, in 2023, prosecutors charged him again with leading police on a chase from Rodeo to Alameda County on Sept. 19, 2022.
In the 2022 chase, like the 2024 chase, Easley allegedly reached speeds of 120 miles per hour. Not only that, when police finally found his parked car in Emeryville — they say Easley had abandoned it and ran away long before the officers got there — Easley’s own music was playing through the stereo, an indication he was listening to himself rap as he successfully evaded law enforcement.
Easley was scheduled to enter a no contest plea in both his Contra Costa cases on March 27, but these new charges will likely take that plea deal off the table. He also has a pending sentencing for gun possession in San Joaquin County, authorities said.
As if all that weren’t enough, Easley’s legal troubles aren’t limited to criminal court. Back in January, a bail bonds company filed a lawsuit against him and his girlfriend attempting to recoup $4,400, court records show.
Easley has been public about his run-ins with law enforcement, in music and interviews. He gave a 2019 interview with the popular Bay Area hip-hop promotion and news site Thizzler, where he discussed a decade-old federal gun sales case where he said he was set up by an ATF agent, and talked about making life changes since becoming a father.
Source: www.mercurynews.com