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Rod Wave's lawyers are firing back after police arrested the artist on firearms charges.
On Wednesday, April 3, the St. Petersburg, Fla. native was booked into the Manatee County Jail and charged with two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Rod Wave had to take a mug shot, which instantly went viral once it hit the Internet. He was released from custody a few hours later after the charges were "determined not to be accurate" by the St. Petersburg Police Department. The rapper's lawyers Bradford Cohen and Mark Rankin said the arresting officers were "incorrect."
"The officers that made the arrest are incorrect," Cohen and Rankin told TMZ. "He is not a convicted felon and has never been a convicted felon. We would have hoped additional research would have been done prior to them filing these charges. As with any case we will hold those parties that made the error accountable for their actions."
The probable cause affidavit claimed the rapper, born Rodarius Marcell Green, was convicted of a felony in Pinellas County for carrying a concealed firearm in 2017. However, court records show Green only pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon. According to a report the Tampa Bay Times published, Rod Wave was arrested in connection to an investigation into a shooting that occurred outside of the Sonic Sports Bar and Lounge on Sunday night. Three men and one 17-year-old girl were struck by bullets during the incident, but police confirmed the injuries were not life-threatening.
“He was arrested on a charge that was later determined not to be accurate, so he was released,” St. Petersburg Police Department spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez said in a statement. “This investigation is still open, it’s still ongoing and we are still looking to arrest more people and additional charges could be forthcoming.”
Three of Rod Wave's affiliates Kevontre Wesby, 20, Keith Wesby, 21, and Christopher Atkins, 24, were arrested and booked into the Pinellas County jail on Wednesday. In addition, footage of the shooting in question surfaced online. See the footage below.