A rap and reality television star who launched a social media rant against the NYPD after the department sent out an advisory looking for him for allegedly roughing up his ex-girlfriend and stealing her cellphone has turned himself in to police custody.
Joe Budden turned himself in at the 34th Precinct in Upper Manhattan Wednesday morning. He was arrested and charged with robbery in the third degree and grand larceny in the fourth degree.
Last weekend, Budden directed his ire at the NYPD via Twitter after it sent out his picture and asked the public for help tracking him down.
In one expletive-punctuated tweet, the 33-year-old city native said he would sue. In another, he told the NYPD's account to alert the "Man hunt" that he'd be at an Astoria strip club Saturday night.
NBC 4 New York found him on his New Jersey doorstep Monday, getting ready to take his dog for a walk.
"You guys found me rather easily," the "Love & Hip Hop" star said. "And I'm wearing pink! Who runs wearing pink? I'm not on the run."
"It's been a frenzy. It's been a frenzy. I was surprised at all of it to be honest," Budden said, adding he felt like he was being treated like a fugitive. "The media circus, the witch hunt, the man hunt."
Budden said he regretted sending the taunting tweets. He is accused of snatching his girlfriend's cellphone and twisting her arm during a dispute in his car in Manhattan earlier this month.
Budden said the cellphone in question belonged to him, not his girlfriend, but he said he wanted to do whatever it would take to rectify the legal situation and move forward.
His latest album is "All Love Lost."
