Reports state that the Los Angeles Police Department handcuffed rap star Kid Cudi on Monday (Dec 21) while in pursuit of looters in the area.

The Cleveland MC had just wrapped a photo shoot for the U.K. magazine New Music Express when LAPD stopped him and his entourage as they were driving out of the vicinity.

The NME Web site has a play-by-play of the incident, which involved police ordering Cudi and his crew at gunpoint to get down on the ground.

After Cudi and company were quickly released, the rapper later told the magazine: "We're in L.A., it's a rowdy place in the United States, you know? And a lot of shit goes down. And these cops have to use force. So it's, like, I understand that they were doing their job. I just wish we weren't in that place at that time."

Cudi wasn't available for further comment. He was in the news last week for ending his run on Lady Gaga's tour, citing a scheduling conflict. --Clover Hope