Hackensack Police Emergency Response Team officers arrested a Jersey City hip-hop artist and emcee Saturday afternoon in Hackensack on a “high risk” warrant from Philadelphia where he is a suspect in a murder and two attempted murders
Rapper Cassidy, whose real name is, Barry Reese, was considered “armed and dangerous,” is also wanted on a probation violation charge in Philadelphia. As the rapper shopped in a local convenience store, an undercover officer entered to identify him. Once the officers were positive the man was Reese, ERT officers conducted a felony motor vehicle stop once the rapper left the store, said Hackensack police Lt. Timothy Lloyd, and took him into custody without incident, NorthJersey.com reported.
The paper reported that the music artist was surprised by his arrest, but no one was injured during the course of the arrest and that the arresting officers did an outstanding job, said Lloyd.
Philadelphia Police warrant squad contacted Hackensack Police Saturday morning informing the department of their warrant for the 28-year-old's arrest. They knew from a previous arrest that he lived in Hackensack, so the ERT team was called in along with the Hackensack police department’s Juvenile Bureau to surveil Reese’s Reilly Court home, 24HourHipHop.comreported.
This is not the 28-year-old Pennsylvania native's first brush with the law. In April 2005, Reese and three men armed with an AK-47 variant rifle, 9 mm and .45 and .40 caliber handguns opened fire on three unarmed men in a Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood killing one and injuring two, reported MTV.
Philadelphia police charged the rapper with murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault, conspiracy and weapons possession. Reese later stood trial on third degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges after the prosecutions star witness recanted his confession.
On January 25, 2006, the Gangster rap artist was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime. According to MTV News, he was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison with credit for the seven months he served while awaiting trial, and probation. After serving eight months, Reese was released from Pennsylvania's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on March 2, 2006.
Seven months after his release from prison, Reese was seriously injured when a commercial truck slammed into an SUV he was riding in. He awoke from a medically induced coma eight days later at the Jersey City Medical Center, with a fractured skull and several broken bones to the left side of his face, MTV News reported. He recovered and released his third album, “B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story,” in 2007.
According to Billboard.com, the album debuted at #10 top 200, selling 63,000 copies within the first week. The album features songs about his accident and his prison stint, as well as his relationship with God. His well known single from his 2005 “I’m a Hustla” album, peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop charts.
Reese is currently being held at the Bergen County Jail Annex awaiting extradition back to Philadelphia.
Rapper Cassidy, whose real name is, Barry Reese, was considered “armed and dangerous,” is also wanted on a probation violation charge in Philadelphia. As the rapper shopped in a local convenience store, an undercover officer entered to identify him. Once the officers were positive the man was Reese, ERT officers conducted a felony motor vehicle stop once the rapper left the store, said Hackensack police Lt. Timothy Lloyd, and took him into custody without incident, NorthJersey.com reported.
The paper reported that the music artist was surprised by his arrest, but no one was injured during the course of the arrest and that the arresting officers did an outstanding job, said Lloyd.
Philadelphia Police warrant squad contacted Hackensack Police Saturday morning informing the department of their warrant for the 28-year-old's arrest. They knew from a previous arrest that he lived in Hackensack, so the ERT team was called in along with the Hackensack police department’s Juvenile Bureau to surveil Reese’s Reilly Court home, 24HourHipHop.comreported.
This is not the 28-year-old Pennsylvania native's first brush with the law. In April 2005, Reese and three men armed with an AK-47 variant rifle, 9 mm and .45 and .40 caliber handguns opened fire on three unarmed men in a Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood killing one and injuring two, reported MTV.
Philadelphia police charged the rapper with murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault, conspiracy and weapons possession. Reese later stood trial on third degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges after the prosecutions star witness recanted his confession.
On January 25, 2006, the Gangster rap artist was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime. According to MTV News, he was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison with credit for the seven months he served while awaiting trial, and probation. After serving eight months, Reese was released from Pennsylvania's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on March 2, 2006.
According to Billboard.com, the album debuted at #10 top 200, selling 63,000 copies within the first week. The album features songs about his accident and his prison stint, as well as his relationship with God. His well known single from his 2005 “I’m a Hustla” album, peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop charts.
Reese is currently being held at the Bergen County Jail Annex awaiting extradition back to Philadelphia.
