Rapper Soulja Boy charged with possessing gun stolen from Huntington Beach police
Rapper Soulja Boy was charged Monday with illegally possessing a military-style pistol and a handgun that was stolen from a Huntington Beach Police Department vehicle, officials said.
Soulja Boy, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, is facing felony counts of possession of an assault weapon, a “Mini Draco AR-IS,” and possession of a firearm in violation of probation, a .45-caliber Glock 21, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
He is also charged with one misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property, the police department’s stolen Glock, prosecutors said.
The entertainer pleaded not guilty Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
If the rapper is convicted, he faces more than four years in prison.
The 26-year-old Studio City resident was arrested Dec. 15 at his home in the 3200 block of Dos Palos Drive after police found the firearms, according to Officer Jenny Houser, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
It was unclear why police were called to the residence, Houser said.
The entertainer has had several run-ins with law enforcement over the years.
In 2011, he was arrested on felony drug and weapons charges after a traffic stop in Georgia.
Three years later, he was arrested in Granada Hills.
He was a passenger in a car when police pulled the driver over for allegedly running a stop sign in 2014. During the traffic stop, police found a concealed weapon, the LAPD said.
The rapper was convicted of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle and sentenced to two years probation, according to Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. The probation sentence was scheduled to end in December.
He is best known for his song “Crank That,” which later inspired a popular dance.
He is currently starring in VH1’s reality drama “Love and Hip Hop Hollywood,” which follows the lives of several aspiring rappers, recording artists and their significant others.
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UPDATES:
1:15 p.m.: This article was updated with Soulja Boy pleading not guilty and new details on the charges.
This article was originally published at 10:45 p.m.
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