Lil Tjay Nabbed On Gun Charge, Misses Ice Spice Video Shoot
Written by djfrosty on January 17, 2023
Source: Roy Rochlin / Getty
Rapper Lil Tjay’s mission to support fellow rapper Ice Spice ended with him in handcuffs as he was arrested on the way to her video shoot.
According to reports, officers from the New York Police Department conducted a car stop of a black Cadillac Escalade on Monday afternoon (Jan. 16th) at West 183rd Street and Ryer Avenue in the Bronx around 4 P.M. They reported that five men including Lil Tjay were in the vehicle and that four handguns were recovered. A passerby took video footage of the encounter, which was later shared on Twitter. He was reportedly en route to film the video for “Gangster Boo” with Ice Spice.
Lil Tjay, aka Tione Jayden Merritt, was arrested and taken to a local precinct. Representatives for the NYPD stated that the 21-year-old was charged with criminal possession of a firearm, along with the other men in the car. They had pulled the SUV over because it lacked a front license plate and had tinted windows.
Fellow Bronx native Ice Spice was also involved in an encounter with police officers nearby when she was pulled over on Walton Avenue, according to sources. The “Munch” rapper was not charged with anything and freed to go on her way, but her passenger, Markus Grisham, was arrested for criminal possession of a weapon. It was reported that he allegedly had a 9-millimeter handgun on his person when detained at the traffic stop.
The arrest is the latest bit of trouble for Lil Tjay, who was shot multiple times in an attempted robbery at a shopping plaza in Edgewater, New Jersey last June. The “Run It Up” rapper had to undergo emergency surgery, with concerns that the damage he sustained was life-threatening. He made a significant recovery to the point that he recorded and released the track “Beat The Odds” from his hospital bed.