American rapper DaBaby has accepted a plea deal to avoid jail time in connection with a felony battery case stemming from a 2020 incident. The case involves a California homeowner who claims DaBaby sucker-punched him during an unauthorized video shoot at his rental property.
On Thursday, the "Suge" rapper, whose real name is Jonathan Kirk, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery through his lawyer, Blair Berk. He did not attend the court hearing in person. Los Angeles County Judge Ray Jurado sentenced Kirk to one year of probation and credited him for time served during his 2021 arrest. Additionally, DaBaby was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution, maintain a distance of at least 100 yards from the victim, Gary Pagar, and refrain from possessing any deadly weapons, including firearms.
Deputy District Attorney Heather Brel explained that her office decided to drop the more severe charge of felony battery with serious bodily injury due to insufficient evidence to prove serious injury at trial. If convicted of the higher charge, Kirk could have faced up to four years in prison.
The incident occurred in December 2020 when Pagar attempted to break up an unauthorized video shoot at his six-bedroom luxury home, which he had rented to Kirk under a "vacation" lease. The agreement stipulated that no more than 12 people could occupy the property due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, Pagar claims Kirk immediately violated the agreement by inviting around 40 people to film a video for the song "Play U Lay," featuring rapper Stunna 4 Vegas and social media personality Jake Paul.
According to Pagar, after he contacted Kirk to terminate the shoot, Kirk and his entourage disabled the home's Nest security camera. When Pagar arrived in person to enforce the lease terms, he alleges that Kirk sucker-punched him, knocking out his tooth and leaving him bruised and bloodied. Pagar also claims that Kirk and a group of men swarmed him, pushing, shoving, spitting on him, and taunting him, as well as damaging his car and tossing his phone.
Pagar, 68, submitted a written victim impact statement for the court, which Judge Jurado read privately. Pagar is also pursuing a civil lawsuit against DaBaby for fraud, breach of contract, and battery, with the trial set to begin in September.
