‘Invalid from the start’: Why a St. Pete rapper was arrested then released hours later
Five suspects have been arrested after an Easter shooting that left four people wounded and cars riddled with bullet holes in St. Petersburg. Five suspects have been arrested following an Easter shooting that left four people wounded and cars riddled with bullet holes in St. Petersburg, Florida. The suspects are acquaintances of local rapper Rodarius Green, who was arrested on a separate weapons charge and later released due to inaccurate information. His attorney, Mark Rankin, stated that Green was taken into custody due to police thinking he was a convicted felon in possession of ammunition, but this was reduced to a misdemeanor of carrying a concealed weapon instead of a concealed firearm. The arrest was deemed invalid from the start and Green was released hours later. The investigation into the incident is ongoing, with police still working to determine if any bullets found at these homes can be tied to other shootings.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Nicole Rogers in Entertainment
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — Five suspects have been arrested after an Easter shooting that left four people wounded and cars riddled with bullet holes in St. Petersburg.
“We had arrested three of them,” said Yolanda Fernandez with the St. Petersburg Police Department. “We still had two people we were looking for.”
“Both of those men turned themselves into the Pinellas County Jail [Tuesday] night,” she continued.
Investigators said they seized rifles, handguns, ammunition and jewelry, but still can’t understand why there was such disregard for human life.
“We are still trying to work on the ‘why’ for this, the motive, why those men indiscriminately shot into a crowd,” Fernandez explained. “Literally, they just walk up, they’re shooting over cars, they’re not even sure who they’re going to be hitting and they ended up hitting four people who were uninvolved.”
Police said the men they arrested are acquaintances of local rapper Rodarius Green, better known as Rod Wave.
He was arrested on a separate weapons charge and released due to inaccurate information.
His attorney tells us he was taken into custody because police thought he was a convicted felon in possession of ammunition.
“In 2017 he was charged with a felony weapons offense, but the state reduced that charge to a misdemeanor of carrying a concealed weapon instead of carrying a concealed firearm,” one of his attorneys, Mark Rankin, explained.
Why does that change things?
“Because that was a misdemeanor offense, he is not a convicted felon,” Rankin explained. “He has no restrictions on having firearms or ammunition at all.”
“The arrest was completely invalid from the start,” he continued.
Because Green was arrested based on inaccurate information, he was released hours later.
So how did that happen?
Fernandez said it all started when investigators tried to arrest three of the suspects involved in the Easter shooting.
“When they got there, it’s in the middle of the night, there’s another person there,” she said. “It happens to be Rod Green.”
Fernandez said that because Green wasn’t a part of the initial warrants police planned to make arrests on, the detectives called to get more information.
“So at that point, the detectives will check back with the emergency communications center to find out what’s in Rod Green’s background and whether or not his presence there points to any charges,” she explained.
Fernandez said that’s where the mistake was made.
“There was an error made in the information that was given to the detective at the scene,” she explained. “That’s why Mr. Green was taken into custody and initially charged with one charge.”
“He was immediately released as soon as it was deemed that was an inaccurate charge because he’s not a convicted felon,” she continued.
St. Pete police say the investigation is far from over.
“We know the BMW we can at least tie to more than the Easter night shooting,” Fernandez explained. “We are processing the guns, all of the shell casings to determine whether any of the bullets that came from the guns that were found at these homes can be tied to other shootings.”
“If you watch the video, it’s hard to believe that’s the first time they ever fired those guns,” she continued.