Tekashi69 Strikes Plea Deal, Avoids Assault Charges Against Police Officer

Tekashi69 has struck a plea deal in connection to an incident in May, during which he was initially charged with assaulting a police officer.

After initially approaching the 22-year-old rapper because his car was parked in front of a fire hydrant, police in New York City ultimately took him into custody after learning that Texas police had issued a warrant for his arrest months earlier because of a teenage fan’s claim that Tekashi choked him during a tense encounter. New York police claimed that, during the arrest, Tekashi69 gripped an officer’s hand with enough force to cause swelling and injury, and he was charged with assaulting a police officer.

Prosecutors have dropped the misdemeanor assault charge in exchange for the “Gummo” rapper pleading guilty Wednesday to a disorderly conduct charge, TMZ reports. He was then released on the condition that he avoid any further trouble with the law for a year, or else face jail time, Tekashi’s lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, told the outlet.

Tekashi69 has been embroiled in a number of legal battles this year. A judge sentenced the rapper to probation and 1,000 hours of community service last month in relation to a child sex case involving the rapper, then 18 years old, appearing in a pornographic video alongside a 13-year-old girl and another adult man. Tekashi69 entered a guilty plea in December to three felony counts of the use of a child in a sexual performance in relation to the video.

On the same day that Tekashi69 was sentenced to probation, members of his entourage were linked to a shooting that took place at a Manhattan restaurant. Two members of Tekashi69’s crew were arrested and charged with gang assault the same day of the shooting, while Tekashi’s manager Kifano Jordan was arrested and charged last week with assault, attempted assault, and weapon possession, according to the New York Daily News.

[Photo: Getty Images]