Video: More trouble for Canadian teen pop star Justin Bieber as police raid his L.A. mansion in a felony vandalism investigation. Jennifer Tryon reports.
TORONTO — Police raided the California home of Canadian pop star Justin Bieber on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told Global News the search warrant was executed early Tuesday at the singer’s home on Prado Del Grandioso in Calabasas, roughly 50 kilometres northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Police are investigating an allegation that Bieber vandalized a neighbour’s home on Jan. 9 by pelting eggs at the front door, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
Thompson said Bieber was home with several friends and members of his security team when as many as a dozen police officers arrived at his residence at around 8:00 a.m.
Thompson said the pop star was cooperative.
“He was not arrested nor exonerated,” he explained, adding the investigation is ongoing.
VIDEO: L.A. Sheriff’s Department press conference about the raid on Justin Bieber’s house
If charged with felony vandalism, Bieber could face up to three years in jail or fined and ordered to pay restitution.
VIDEO: A male staying at Bieber’s home was arrested on a felony narcotics violation
While investigators combed through Bieber’s house, the pop star’s father Jeremy Bieber — who was visiting his son on the day of the alleged egg attack — tweeted: “Lead by example! Be great!”
The raid caps off a tumultuous year for the London, Ont.-born pop star.
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He dodged criminal charges in October after allegedly threatening his neighbour, who had complained about reckless driving. A prosecutor said Bieber’s behaviour was “immature” but not necessarily criminal.
Bieber reportedly lost an expensive chain inside a Toronto nightclub in September during an alleged scuffle with someone who tried to take his picture. No charges were laid.
That same month, an Ohio man filed a police report that claimed Bieber spit in his face inside The Social Room nightclub in Columbus. The star was not charged.
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In Toronto, Bieber was photographed in July spitting off the balcony of the Hazelton Hotel. He later denied reports that he was spitting on fans gathered on the street below.
Bieber was sued in June by a paparazzo who claimed the singer kicked and punched him at a mall in Calabasas. Jose Duran’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Bieber made headlines all year — more for his behaviour than his music.
In April, the singer came under fire for suggesting Anne Frank would have been a fan.
He also faced criticism in March when he abandoned his pet monkey Mally after it was seized by German officials.
In July, video surfaced online showing Bieber allegedly urinating in a mop bucket in a restaurant kitchen and spraying cleaning fluid on a photo of Bill Clinton. (Bieber apologized to Clinton after the video went public.)
In the fall, Bieber was snapped being carried by bodyguards up the Great Wall of China, criticized for spraying graffiti in Australia and caught sneaking out of a brothel in Brazil.
Bieber, who spent most of 2013 on a world tour, was let down by his 48.6 million Twitter followers at the end of the year when his feature film Believe flopped at the box office. Since opening on Christmas Day, the documentary has earned only $6.2 million worldwide.
According to Pollstar, Bieber’s tour grossed an estimated $169 million in 2013.
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