He once sang 'someone please call 911', but Wyclef Jean wasn't expecting to be arrested by Los Angeles police in "another case of mistaken identity".
The detainment has left the musician fuming as police handcuffed him in their search for a man who had robbed a petrol station.
He posted a video of him in handcuffs standing in the dark, illuminated by police lights and flanked by officers on both Twitter and Instagram on Tuesday morning (local time).
"LAPD another case of mistaken identity. Black man with red bandana robbed a gas station as I was in the studio working but im in handcuffs? [sic]," he wrote.
In a subsequent series of tweets, Jean said he was asked to put his hands up and told not to move. It was then he was "instantly" handcuffed before he was asked to identify himself.
He claimed he wasn't told why he was now in handcuffs and told officers his name and that they had the wrong person.
"They proceeded to ignore me and I was treated like a criminal until other police showed up and pointed out they had [the] wrong person.
"I am sure no father wants his sons or daughters to see him in handcuffs especially if he is innocent," he wrote.
He says he's "appalled" by the officers' behaviour, particularly considering he has law enforcement officers in his family.
LA County Sherriff's Department officer sergeant Charles Duncan confirmed Jean was briefly detained - the whole ordeal lasting around six minutes - the New York Times reports.
The suspect had allegedly robbed a man and woman at gunpoint and beaten on Sunset Boulevard.
He was described as a black man with a dark hoodie who'd fled the scene in a gold or tan Toyota.
It was while searching for the vehicle that police pulled the car driven by a woman and Jean as a passenger.
Both were told to get out of the car; Jean was handcuffed and were both released when they were told there was no woman in the suspect's getaway vehicle.
Officers were also told the real suspect had been arrested at another location.
Newshub.
