Pop Smoke was tussling with some legal issues prior to his death. According to the New York Post, the NYPD appeared to be using these pending charges to try to get Pop to roll over Crip gang members. 

A source tells the Post that police first tried to get Pop Smoke to snitch when he was arrested in December 2019 for allegedly possessing a stolen Rolls Royce Wraith. The police questioned him about a non-fatal shooting that took place in Brooklyn in June 2019. Authorities felt as though he had information on the situation because they claimed to have footage of him driving a car in reverse near the scene of the crime.