Rap mogul Tip “T.I.” Harris is questioning the quick arrests of three homeless people in connection with the Atlanta fire that brought down a section of highway in midtown.
T.I. says he is convinced the wrong man is behind bars for sparking the blaze that caused a 350 foot section of I-85 North overpass to collapse on Thursday, March 30.
T.I. and others are questioning how one man could cause such mass destruction without a blow torch or a can of gasoline handy.
The official story from Atlanta police is that Basil Eleby, 41, caused the fire after smoking crack.
T.I. is immediately skeptical of the police reports.
“Now I’ve heard some far out sh-t in my day… but this sh-t here tho?!?!,” the rapper tweeted. “In all my experiences wit crack &/or crackheads I ain’t NEVER seen nothing like this sh-t!!! Js (drug users) in my hood never set anything but da DOPE on fire.”
Skeptics believe Eleby and the others are scapegoats for the city’s negligence for improper storage of construction supplies under the overpass.
A woman who was arrested with Eleby claims she saw him stack a chair atop a shopping cart filled with debris and light it.
Somehow the fire ignited tons of fiber optic cable spools that the City of Atlanta stored under the overpass years ago.
The flames from the fire grew so intense that chunks of concrete began falling away from the underside of the overpass, exposing steel beams and tie rods.
Eleby has been charged with first-degree arson and felony criminal damage to property. He is being held on $200,000 bond.
Two additional suspects, Barry Thomas and Sophia Brauer, were also arrested and charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor.
Construction to rebuild the elevated freeway near Piedmont Road is expected to take 3 months.
