Wyclef Jean is calling for a racial profiling investigation after he claims he was mistaken for an armed robber and detained for up to 10 minutes by members of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
The 47-year-old singer and actor posted a Twitter video early Tuesday morning that shows him handcuffed alongside a West Hollywood road.
“In L.A. right now coming from the studio with T-Baby. Y’all see the police have handcuffs on me. They just took off my Haitian bandana,” he says in a clip of the incident.
Jean’s spokeswoman, Melanie Bonvicino, tells PEOPLE her client “was detained by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department this morning while en route back to his hotel [room] from a recording session in Los Angeles, after the vehicle he was being liveried in was pulled over and from which he was brutally removed from the vehicle and subject to police brutality, racial profiling, police bias and the ongoing discriminatory practices of law enforcement officials which remain rampant throughout the United States and for which the L.A. Sheriff’s office is deeming a case of mistaken identity.”
Now, Bonvicino says Jean is calling for an investigation, and enlisting the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and civil rights group Black Lives Matter.
“Mr. Jean is requesting a formal investigation into racial profiling by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, LAPD chief Charlie Beck and the LA Sheriff’s Department while calling upon the ACLU and Black Lives Matter to join him in defense of civil liberties and racial bias.”
Jean detailed the situation in a string of tweets on Tuesday, writing that he is “appalled by this behavior of the LAPD.”
However, a spokesman with the sheriff’s department told PEOPLE that the situation was a mistake.
The spokesman said that an armed robbery occurred at around 12:40 a.m. in West Hollywood and the suspect’s description and vehicle matched Jean’s.
“They didn’t know who [Jean] was,” the spokesperson said of the officers. “They detained Wyclef … Based on the information provided they were able to determine that they do not believe Wyclef was, in fact, the suspect.”
He added: “[Jean] was released. That whole detention with Wyclef happened in less than 10 minutes.”
The suspect was soon located just blocks from where Jean was detained, the sheriff’s department spokesman tells PEOPLE. The suspect has been charged with robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.
