6ix9ine’s Security Charged for Robbing Man With Video of Tekashi

Five individuals from 6ix9ine‘s security team are facing some serious legal trouble after allegedly chasing a man who supposedly recorded the rapper on a cell phone in New York City.

According to documents obtained by XXL on Monday (July 19), Sammy Sprouse from Murfreesboro, Tenn., Christian and Egardo Cortez of Bridgeport, Conn., Kristian Fuhse of Pompano Beach, Fla., and Daniel Laperuta, a former New York Police Department detective of Central Valley, N.Y., were all indicted today by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance and charged with Robbery in the First Degree, Robbery in the Second Degree and Criminal Impersonation in the First Degree.

Laperuta has also been charged with Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree in connection to the former officer incorrectly claiming to be a member of the NYPD and in a 911 call that the victim, a 34-year-old man, was threatening the other individuals on Tekashi’s security team with a firearm.

Based on court documents and statements, the victim and his girlfriend spotted 6ix9ine and the Brooklyn rhymer’s protective crew while driving in Harlem, N.Y. on Aug. 9, 2020. When the group of men noticed the victim was recording the rapper on a cell phone, they yelled at him then proceeded to chase the victim in three SUVs for 20 blocks as he drove away. The vehicles featured both flashing lights and sirens while chasing the victim.

The document additionally notes that when the victim attempted to flag down an NYPD officer in a marked vehicle, former detective Laperuta flashed a retired NYPD Member of Service card, telling the officers that the victim threatened them with a gun. Laperuta then rejoined the pursuit. The former officer called 911 as the other members of the rapper’s security followed the man. Laperuta also claimed a second time that the victim threatened himself and his colleagues with a gun when he went to the NYPD’s 28th Precinct to make a complaint.

6ix9ine‘s security eventually caught up with the victim and boxed in his car with their SUVs on 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in New York City, and forced the man to pull over his car.

Sammy Sprouse approached the victim, opened the door to his car, undid the victim’s seatbelt and pulled the man’s arm, knocking his phone from his hand. Kristian Fuhse then stomped on the cell phone. The victim tried to get out of his car and wrestled with Egardo Cortez while attempting to retrieve the phone.

Laperuta then approached the group of men with his hand on his gun, which was in its holster. Christian Cortez pointed a taser at the victim. Shortly after, an unmarked police car arrived with flashing lights and Tekashi’s security crew fled the scene in their SUVs.

Following the incident, Laperuta attempted to file a complaint at the NYPD’s 28th precinct, saying once again that the victim pointed a firearm at the security team. However, when an NYPD lieutenant questioned the validity of Laperuta’s claims, the former officer retracted his complaint and left the precinct.

Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance said of the incident: “A celebrity entourage is not a police department, and Manhattan is not the Wild West. As alleged, these highly-compensated vigilantes caravanned through the streets of Harlem with sirens flashing in order to track a man down and steal and break his phone. Along the way, a retired NYPD Detective tried to cover up their conduct by lying to his former colleagues and repeatedly claiming the victim had threatened to shoot them. False reports—especially about firearms—can carry devastating consequences and fortunately, no one was injured or killed in the actual police response.”

XXL has reached out to a rep for 6ix9ine for a comment.