ROD Wave is an American rapper and singer known for his unique style.
The Florida native made headlines again in 2024 after he was arrested on a weapon charge.
Why was Rod Wave arrested?
Rod Wave was arrested on April 3, 2024, in Manatee County, Florida.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the rapper was arrested on two counts of illegally possessing a firearm or ammunition as a convicted felon.
Local authorities say that the case is related to an ongoing shooting investigation in St. Petersburg that left four people hospitalized.
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After his arrest, St. Petersburg police held a press conference to announce the arrests of the three men behind the shooting.
They also confirmed that Wave was arrested on a weapon charge.
However, his lawyers disputed that their client was a convicted felon, and cops admitted that the charge wasn't accurate.
“He was arrested on a charge that was later determined not to be accurate, so he was released,” a spokesperson told Tampa Bay Times.
“This investigation is still open, it’s still ongoing and we are still looking to arrest more people and additional charges could be forthcoming.”
Is Rod Wave still in jail?
Per the Tampa Bay Times, Wave was released from jail after the charge was determined to be a mistake.
This is not Wave's first run-in with the law, as he has been arrested in the past.
On May 2, 2022, it was reported that Wave had been arrested on a felony charge of battery by strangulation.
The news of his arrest came just hours after an Instagram video was released, showing the rapper's run-in with police.
“This is lame, this is why I don’t even come here,” he can be heard saying in the video.
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According to his arrest report, he was taken into custody Monday morning and was held at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in St. Petersburg.
What have Rod Wave’s lawyers said?
Rod Wave's lawyers, Bradford Cohen and Mark Rankin, quickly began fighting the charges against the rapper.
They disputed claims that Wave was a convicted felon, as initially stated by police.
The attorneys told TMZ, "The officers that made the arrest are incorrect.
"He is not a convicted felon and has never been a convicted felon.
"We would have hoped additional research would have been done prior to them filing these charges."
Rankin later told the Tampa Bay Times, "The entire basis of that allegation was that the ammunition was on a kitchen counter or a table adjacent to a folder that had some papers with his name inside.
"That’s it. That’s certainly not enough to charge somebody and certainly not enough to convict him.”
