ATLANTA — Atlanta rapper Young Thug was arrested Thursday at Lenox Square mall due to an active warrant.
Officers were responding to a stolen vehicle call at the mall just after 8 p.m. when they spotted the rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Lamar Williams. He had an active warrant out of Atlanta for failure to appear, police said.
The rapper had $2,500 on him, Atlanta police said. He was given the money by a family member prior to being taken in.
“There were no injuries as a result of this arrest,” police said in an incident report.
It was not immediately clear if the warrant out on Williams was regarding an incident last year when he was arrested at Perimeter Mall for allegedly threatening to shoot a security guard.
He was charged with terroristic threats and booked into the DeKalb County jail, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. He was released on a $10,000 bond.
In Thursday’s incident, Atlanta police said they considered that he is a celebrity when they arrested him.
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“Officers did take into consideration that Mr. Williams is a high profile music entertainer and escorted him to the employee stairwell and walked out of the rear to avoid crowd issues with taking Mr. Williams into custody,” police said in the report.
Williams was taken to a patrol car and placed in handcuffs.
He was later released.
Information from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was used in this report.
Indictment: Young Thug involved in conspiracy to kill Lil Wayne
Rapper Young Thug was arrested Wednesday morning by U.S. Marshals executing an outstanding warrant issued by Dunwoody police.
The 22-year-old rapper, whose birth name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, was arrested without incident around 6 a.m. at a residence in Sandy Springs, according to Jim Joyner, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force.
“Williams was wanted on an outstanding warrant charging him with terroristic threats stemming from an incident that occurred with the jurisdiction of the Dunwoody police,” Joyner said in a news release.
Dunwoody Police Department spokesman Officer Timothy Fecht said the charges were the product of a July 7 “dispute that Mr. Williams had with Perimeter Mall security.”
According to an arrest warrant, Williams was asked to leave the mall and was being escorted out when he “threatened to shoot (a security guard) in the face.”
Williams was taken to the DeKalb County jail for his initial appearance and bond hearing, Joyner said.
Williams, who was born in Sylvan Hills, is perhaps best known for his recent single “Stoner” and is a member of Gucci Mane’s Atlanta-based record label.
Only Channel 2 Action News was there this afternoon as federal agents and police raided his home Wednesday.
Police are not saying what exactly they were searching for in the palatial home.
Only our camera was there as police searched expensive cars out front, and rooms inside the house.
They had to step in when his family accosted our photographer.
None of Williams’ family members wanted to go on camera, but a man who identified himself as the rapper's father told Petchenik he is not guilty of anything and said the police are just trying to railroad his son.
Channel 2 Action News has uncovered an indictment filed in Cobb County in June that alleges Williams and another rapper named Bryan Williams, aka Birdman, were involved in a RICO conspiracy to kill Lil Wayne when his tour bus was shot up in April.
The indictment also says all of the men are members of the Bloods gang.
The indictment alleges that Dwayne Carter (Lil Wayne) and Bryan Williams (Birdman) had a business dispute concerning Lil Wayne's contract with Cash Money Records. Lil Wayne owns a portion of the record label. Birdman is one of the co-founders of the record label.
Lil Wayne later dismissed the lawsuit “due to venue issues while problems continued between (Lil Wayne) and (Birdman).”
The indictment says Young Thug sided with Birdman in the contract dispute. Because of the dispute, Lil Wayne’s latest album, “The Carter V,” has yet to be released.
“(Young Thug) released the next album in the Carter series but changed the name to "Barter VI" by changing the ‘C’ to a ‘B,’” the indictment says.
The indictment alleges that Young Thug made a threat against Lil Wayne and tour bus shooting suspect Jimmy Winfrey carried out that threat.
Winfrey is also known as "PeeWee Roscoe" and affiliated with Rich Gang. Birdman is a part of the Rich Gang rap group which was formed by Cash Money Records in 2013.
The indictment goes on to say that Winfrey was driving the white Chevy Camaro that fired shots at Lil Wayne’s tour buses the night of April 26 after a police escort left the buses.
“After Atlanta Police discontinued their escort, (Winfrey) and fellow Blood Gang members entered Interstate 285 from Atlanta Road in Cobb County in pursuit of the buses occupied by (Lil Wayne’s) group,” the indictment says. “(That’s when) the white sports car pulled beside the buses, shots were then fired into the buses from the sports car with a .40 caliber handgun and a 9mm handgun.”
The indictment goes on to say Winfrey had a photo of the Camaro posted on his Instagram account and attempted to erase it following the shooting. The Camaro was later found at the home of one of Winfrey’s relatives.
Young Thug and Birdman have not been charged in the incident.
Winfrey’s next court appearance is Friday.