Five members of Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 69’s security detail have been charged with first and second-degree robbery and criminal impersonation stemming from an August 2020 robbery.
The men named in this indictment are Egardo Cortez, Christian Cortez, Sammy Sprouse, and Kristian Fuhse. Daniel Lapuerta is from Central Valley and Egardo and Christian are both from Bridgeport, Connecticut.
NBC News gave a full account of the disturbing assault as described by the prosecution.
Lapuerta allegedly tried to make a complaint that the victim threatened the rapper and his entourage but a NYPD Lieutenant didn't buy it and Lapuerta withdrew his complaint, Vance's office says.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) July 19, 2021
According to the Manhattan DA Cy Vance, the rainbow-haired artist’s bodyguards pursued a man for 20 blocks in their SUVs throughout the village of Harlem with the sole purpose of stealing his phone.
The cars raced through the streets flashing lights and sirens as a form of intimidation, hoping that they would get from the man a phone containing a video of Tekashi 69 that they didn’t want them to have.
The indictment says, eventually, they caught the 34-year-old man on 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.
The man, clearly in distress, tried to “flag” down police. Laperuta claimed to be an officer and somehow convinced the police to leave.
It was then that someone opened the man’s car door, obtained the phone, and stomped it on the ground.
Vance even alleges that another person in the “GOOBA” rapper’s party pointed a TASER in the man’s direction, stopping only when unmarked police vehicles arrived.
Laperuta, who was once an officer on the force but retired before the incident last summer, was charged for “falsely claiming to NYPD officers and in a 911 call that the victim was threatening the defendants with a firearm.”
When the real police popped on the scene, Tekashi 69’s security team ran.
In a statement, Vance said, “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.”
The call was not the only time that Laperuta said that the victim had threatened Tekashi 69 and his crew with a gun.
Laperuta actually went to the 28th Precinct to make a formal complaint. After being questioned about his account of what happened by a Lieutenant, he withdrew his complaint.
It is unclear what exactly was on the video.