18-Year-Old Arrested For Carrying AK-47 In NYC Subway

An 18-year-old Black teenager was arrested in New York City after police stumbled upon him with an AK-47 and ammo, which is extremely illegal in the city. He claims he didn’t know the gun laws in the state, though that didn’t help his case.

Source: Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty

New York City has some of the strictest gun laws in the United States. Look no further than Lil Wayne who was at the peak of his career when he caught a gun charge and STILL had to give the feds a year of his life on Rikers Island. Even in Wayne’s case, he wasn’t actually caught with a gun on him, personally, it was just on his tour bus and police claimed it was his. In short, New York doesn’t play around.

Last week, 18-year-old Saadiq Teague was arrested after police found him in the subway with an AK-47. Along with the rifle, he also had a magazine with 17 rounds and 1 loose round in a paper bag. In addition, they also found an empty round in his backpack later on.

According to reports from The New York Daily News, his mother claims he was just in town to visit Times Square and had no clue about the gun laws.

He wasn’t on a mission. He was just “misinformed.” The mom of the 18-year-old Ohio man caught with an AK-47 in a midtown Manhattan subway said her son wasn’t planning any violence — he just thought it would be okay to visit New York with an assault rifle in tow.

“I BEG of the media to quit painting a bad picture of my son whom was misinformed of the gun laws in NY,” the mother of suspect Saadiq Teague messaged a Daily News reporter on Saturday.

“He was visiting Times Square for the first time to see it in person. He was so excited and happy and had no other reasons for being in NY!” she said.

Minutes before his arrest, Teague posted an Instagram video ragging on the Big Apple — revealing a black, metal object sticking out of his backpack.

“F— New York!” the young man screamed into the camera as he walked down the street. A timestamp read 12:18 p.m.

“I want to go home!” he yelled, smiling from ear to ear. “Back to Columbus!”

The most interesting revelation here is the fact that the teen’s father was murdered during a police shootout in Columbus, Ohio just last month. When Teague was found, he was using a phone charging station, and the gun wasn’t hidden–it was in plain view of anyone walking by, which is probably how the police were alerted.

Teague was charged with multiple counts of gun possession and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia as he had a gas mask on, which he says is used with his bong. His mother insists there was no funny business and he was just uninformed and in Ohio, he can legally carry the rifle.

Now, the family is focused on getting his bail lowered from $25,000 cash. Hopefully, the family can get the bail lowered, but the narrative being painted alongside his father’s murder and his Instagram post could make that task more difficult.