Cyndi Lauper's husband, "Law & Order" actor David Thornton, paid their son's bail with $20,000 cash after their son, a 28-year-old rapper, was arraigned on gun possession charges following a shooting in Harlem on Wednesday night.
The New York Post described Thornton "carrying several $100 bills stacked together in a brick" to pay for Declan "Dex" Lauper's bail at a court cashier window with an attorney.
Prosecutors claimed that Declan Lauper and another man took an Uber ride from Queens to 135th West 112th St. Allegedly, during the ride, the driver overheard them saying, "It has already been sold," the Post reported.
According to prosecutors, the incident escalated when Declan Lauper's vehicle was surrounded by five armed individuals, resulting in a gunshot that struck his companion in the leg.
Reportedly, Declan Lauper was seen wearing a black fanny pack with white writing on it.
He then requested responding officers to retrieve a blue bag from his vehicle so that the other individual's mother could collect it from a nearby smoke shop.
However, when police followed Lauper into the store, they observed blood on his shoe and discovered a firearm in his black fanny pack, according to prosecutors.
According to a criminal complaint, another gun was found at the scene where the victim was shot.
"The defendant and the separately apprehended individual drove to the location both with firearms to engage in what appears to be illicit activity," Assistant District Attorney Harriet Jiranek said in court.
According to law enforcement sources speaking with the Post, drugs were discovered on Declan Lauper during his arrest, although he was not formally charged for possession.
Prosecutors were seeking a $50,000 cash bail, but Declan Lauper's attorney, Steven Brill, argued for his release without bail, emphasizing that Declan Lauper has been actively engaged with a life coach to guide him toward a positive path.
"My point of bringing that out is that you have another layer of supervision that he's privately engaged to have him seen and be there for him given when he's released during the pendency with this case," Brill said.
Brill further emphasized that Declan Lauper is a "victim of a crime, not a perpetrator of one," asserting that evidence will demonstrate he was simply "in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Judge Pamela Goldsmith, expressing concern over Declan Lauper's possession of a firearm at the smoke shop, set bail at $20,000 in cash.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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