T.I.'s demanding someone pay up and take the fall for what he calls "trumped-up charges" from the arrest at his gated community ... because the case is ruining the image he worked hard to rehabilitate.
We got the rapper leaving Craig's Monday evening in WeHo, and at first we wanted to get his thoughts on Care2's online petition to get his misdemeanor charges dropped. As we reported, T.I. was arrested last week for simple assault, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness after getting into it with the security guard at his gated community.
Tip later butted heads with cops in jail when he tried to get an explanation from the cop who arrested him.
T.I. told us he appreciates the petition but admitted he's more focused on something else -- PAYBACK ... presumably from police or the security company.