AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Louisiana rapper is wanted on a theft of services charge filed in Travis County last month.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Torence Hatch, 41, who goes by Boosie Badazz, Lil Boosie, or just Boosie, is facing a charge of theft of service greater than or equal to $2,500 and less than $30,000. The charge is related to a June incident in which Hatch allegedly did not pay for chauffeur services that were provided to him over a few days. The charge was filed on Aug. 29.
On Sept. 20, a summons for Hatch to appear in court Oct. 28 for a pre-trial hearing was issued.
There is no attorney for Hatch listed in online records, but KXAN has reached out to emails listed on his website to request commentary and will update this story if we receive a response.
According to the affidavit, a limo and chauffeur service company based in Austin provided service to Hatch and several others from June 5 to June 7. The company alleged it never received payment despite being told in advance Hatch would pay in cash for the services. The affidavit also said the chauffeur driver asked Hatch and his manager about payment several times, and later sent Hatch an invoice for $8,800, which the driver reported was not paid.
The company was contacted June 5 requesting a sprinter van for Hatch and others to be picked up from the Austin airport the same day. The affidavit said the chauffeur company did not receive an itinerary, but it drove Hatch and the others to several places and to do various activities over the three-day timespan.
Some of the services the chauffeur driver provided included the following, per the affidavit: driving Hatch to Walmart to buy clothes, taking Hatch and his child to an Urgent Care to get treatment for the child, driving Hatch to a Burger King, taking Hatch and his family to a trampoline park, taking him to a business in the Round Rock Outlet Mall to do a promotional video, and taking Hatch to the federal courthouse in downtown Austin to check in with a federal parole officer.
The affidavit said Hatch at one point complimented the chauffeur services and posted a video to social media promoting the business. The driver thanked Hatch and said he’d give Hatch “a good price, just like I told your manager,” the affidavit said. After that, Hatch suggested the company take the cost off the promotion video, and the driver said they’d work something out, according to the affidavit.
The chauffeur driver told police there was “never a circumstance, prior to the promotion video, where they agreed that the promotion video would fully cover the cost of services,” according to the affidavit and that the chauffeur company has never had a similar arrangement with a client.
The chauffeur company provided police with screenshots of message exchanges requesting the services and stating they’d be paid for in cash, according to the affidavit.
The company also told police cash payments by the hour, like what Hatch was utilizing with the company, were common for celebrity clients, the affidavit stated.
Hatch is summoned to appear in court in Travis County on Oct. 28.
