Benzino broke his silence about the custody battle that left him hospitalized after Diamond from Crime Mob allegedly ran him over with her vehicle outside his son’s school.
The Hip-Hop veteran said he sustained multiple injuries requiring potential surgery when Diamond accelerated her black Escalade while he tried to stop her from taking his 10-year-old son, Zino.
“I hit my head, twisted my neck up my back, f##### my arm up because I’m gonna have to get surgery on my arm, on my shoulder, and possibly my elbow,” Benzino said.
The confrontation started over school attendance issues between Benzino and his ex, Althea Eaton. He said she previously kept Zino out of school in Miami, but then complained when he re-enrolled the child.
“She made a big stink about him being in school,” Benzino said. “She kept him out of school in Miami. Couldn’t got kept back. I got him back in school. He’s been going to school six weeks.”
He said Althea called for a wellness check while he was working on set as Zino was attending school.
“So I have to call the school principal to get the security to call the school to call the lieutenant at the police office,” Benzino said.
The next day, Benzino waited near the bus stop to surprise his son, but witnessed what he described as a kidnapping attempt.
“I was kind of like hiding a little bit parked where I was hiding, so I could just see like a little,” Benzino said. “As soon as he gets off with the stairs that were at, I could see.”
He said Zino looked happy as he got off the bus before the situation turned chaotic.
“He was like one of the last ones to get off and smiling,” Benzino said. “Next thing you know, he’s off, I don’t see him no more. And I see like the other kids kind of crowding up.”
Benzino said he saw someone forcing Zino into Diamond’s SUV while two police officers moved slowly nearby.
“I noticed two police officers,” Benzino said. “They walking slow as f###.” He described watching his son get thrown into the vehicle before he ran to intervene.
“All I see is Zino getting thrown on the other side, take, take to the other side of the truck and was thrown in,” Benzino said. “I’m like, ‘Yo, that’s my f###### son.’”
Benzino said he jumped onto the SUV to stop it from leaving with his child.
“All I know is that I jumped on the car. I put my body on the car towards the back door,” Benzino said. “I think the window was open, so I put my hand in the door.”
The vehicle then accelerated with him still attached, causing his injuries. “I just heard the car rev up and just go in and get it, took off,” Benzino said. “It flung me around, kind of f##### me up.”
He criticized the police for allowing the removal based on what he called outdated paperwork.
“The paperwork was a 2019 child support court order,” Benzino said. “They just let her take my son off the bus with that,” Benzino said officers never spoke to him at the scene, even though he was present.
“They never called me, consoled me. I was there on the spot. Never talked to me,” he said. He also questioned why the police didn’t pursue the vehicle after he was injured.
“How the f### can you just let them just speed off like that?” Benzino said. Child protective services later returned Zino to him at the hospital, according to previous reports.
“They brought Zino back to me at the hospital,” Benzino confirmed. He said the incident traumatized his son, who witnessed everything happen in front of his classmates.
“This poor kid, 10 years old, man. He’s a great kid,” Benzino said. “You put him through this. Awful b#######. You did it in front of his whole class on the bus. You scared him, everybody.”
Benzino’s legal team is currently reviewing the police report and the circumstances surrounding the custody dispute.
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