Car theft happens all the time, unfortunately. Typically the people doing the thieving try to hide what they’ve done to avoid getting thrown in the big house. Although, plenty of people get caught with stolen cars by being very stupid, like the fella who couldn’t figure out the gas cap to his stolen Ferarri. Last year, the late rapper and rising star, Pop Smoke, brought a stolen Rolls Royce Wraith back to his home in Brooklyn and made sure to document it for Instagram. 

Why would Pop Smoke steal a Rolls Royce Wraith when he could easily buy one?

The 20-year-old Brooklyn rapper was on a rocket ship to superstardom in January of last year. He was collaborating with mega names like Niki Minaj and Travis Scott. Suffice to say; he likely could have bought his own Rolls Royce with little trouble. 

According to the New York Times, Smoke was arrested at JFK Airport after returning from Paris Fashion Week Last year, when we could still do things like that. He was accused of stealing a black 2019 Rolls Royce Wraith that he had borrowed for a music video in LA. 

How did he get the stolen Rolls Royce from LA to Brooklyn?

Smoke got possession of the nearly $300,000 Rolls Royce after the owner let him borrow the car for a shoot. The agreement was that he would bring the borrowed car back the day after the shoot. When the time came to return the Wraith to the owner, Pop Smoke and the car were nowhere to be found. According to the NYT, the owner used a GPS tracker installed in the car to find that it was heading across Arizona heading east. 

The investigators believe that he had arranged for the car to be transported back to his home neighborhood of Canarsie, Brooklyn. After days without hearing anything from Pop Smoke, a photo of the stolen Rolls Royce showed up on the rapper’s Instagram in front of his home in BK. The car’s license tag had been removed and replaced with another one, and the windows had been tinted. What is so odd is that he went to the trouble of switching the license tag and getting the windows tinted but then just posted the photo of it in front of his house. It is a strange decision, to say the least. 

Pop Smoke certainly lived his brand

The now tragically-deceased young entertainer has had a few run-ins with the law before this. He had some suspected interactions with a gang associated with the Crips, which garnered some attention from the law a time or two. Although, no formal charges were ever brought up in this arena. 

The Rolls Royce Wraith has become a common background feature in Hip-Hop and rap videos over the years. The over-the-top opulence is often the vibe that many young rappers use to show their newly acquired station in the industry. Basically, this is what everyone uses Rolls Royce for. From old CEOs to young stars, Rolls Royce is a flex to show folks how much money you have. 

The Rolls was eventually returned to its owner and only a few weeks after the young star was gunned down in his Hollywood home during a home invasion. A true tragedy to lose anyone so young and talented.