The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said that three men were arrested Monday in connection with an attack on rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine at a LA Fitness gym in Lake Worth Beach last week. The arrests included the leader of the Latin Kings gang in Palm Beach County and his son.
A probable cause affidavit says that they beat up the rapper in the men’s locker room and then stole his phone, his Balenciaga shoes, and the key to his Lamborghini.
Rafael Medina Jr., who is 43, his 23-year-old son Octavious Medina, and Anthony Maldonado, who is 25 years old, are the men. In a news release late Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office said that they are being charged with assault and robbery. Their first court date was Friday morning in Palm Beach County Court.
The affidavit says that detectives later found out that Medina Jr. was a “Inca,” or president, of the Latin Kings group in Palm Beach County. The Bloods and Kings have been friends for a long time.
6ix9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, became well-known in the rap world in 2019 when he testified against his old friends in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods in exchange for a shorter sentence. The Bloods gang has a group called the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
The Sheriff’s Office says that Hernandez got into a “altercation” at the gym in the 8000 block of Lantana Road at 8:45 p.m. on March 21.
The probable cause affidavit says that surveillance footage from that night showed Hernandez finishing his workout and going into the men’s locker room.
Maldonado signed in with Medina, who then let his father, Medina Jr., also known as “King Leo,” into the gym.
The three men walked into the locker room for men, where there was no longer any surveillance footage.
Hernandez said to the police that the men hit and kicked him. Multiple men are seen beating Hernandez while he is on the ground under the sinks in videos that have been shared on social media.
One of them says, “Take a picture, I want to be famous now.”
Later, as Hernandez starts to leave with blood on his face, someone says, “I’m not going to lie, bro, I’m a fan.”
After about five minutes, the three men left the room, with Medina holding a pair of white shoes. After a few minutes, Hernandez walked out with cuts on his face and no shoes on.
The affidavit says that Hernandez’s things were taken from him with a lot of force. He was hurt and taken to Bethesda West Hospital. He has scars that can be seen. A security guard told detectives that a tow truck took Hernandez’s Lamborghini back to his house because he was afraid the men would find out where he lived and keep beating him.
The affidavit says that detectives got several hundred anonymous tips, and one of them named Medina and Medina Jr. Another “reliable confidential source” who did not want to be named told detectives that Medina Jr. called them and said he wanted to confess to the crimes but “got too angry about the situation.”
