Before his untimely passing in February of this year, it is reported that Pop Smoke had refused to snitch on Crip gang members for the NYPD.
In a report by Complex magazine, in December 2019, the NYPD tried to get him to snitch after he was arrested for possessing a stolen Rolls Royce Wraith and questioned about a non-fatal June 2019 shooting in Brooklyn.
They claimed there was footage of Pop Smoke driving a vehicle in reverse near the crime scene and believed that he knew what led to the shooting. It was also stated that investigators also tried to pressure him about information pertaining to 823 crips, GS9, and other Brooklyn based street gangs, but he refused to speak with them.
Pop Smoke’s attorney Peter Frankel believes his client was being pressured with the federal grand theft auto charge, to force him into giving info, because it is rare for federal investigators to be involved in car theft cases. He also says that any conversation with Pop about cooperation was a very short one, “it’s something he would never entertain doing.”