A teenager from Ohio has been charged with three felony counts of weapons possession following an arrest Friday after police found the 18-year-old with an unloaded semi-automatic rifle and ammunition in a bag while at a busy midtown subway station, according to a criminal complaint.
The man, identified by the charging document as Saadiq Teague, was apprehended by officers at the subway station in Times Square around 12:45 p.m. Friday near the A/C/E line.
A pair of NYPD officers performing a station inspection spotted Teague as he took the unloaded weapon out of his bag and placed it on the ground, in plain sight. The officers approached and questioned him before taking him into custody, the officials said.
Cash bail was set at $25,000 for Teague at his arraignment on Saturday. He's expected back in court on Thursday, April 22.
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Teague was ultimately charged by the Manhattan district attorney with three felony counts of weapon possession. A message was sent to Teague's public defender for comment.
The MTA called it a "troubling situation," adding that "anything like that in our system is unacceptable."
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea later tweeted a photo of the firearm that police found with the suspect, identifying it as an AK-47.
Investigators were working to determine why the 18-year-old was there and what his intentions were, but the officers did find a loaded magazine clip in his possession, the official said.
"I recovered a magazine containing seventeen rounds from a paper bag on the ground by him along with one loose round. In his backpack, I recovered an empty shell casing," Officer Wilson Lopez detailed in the complaint.
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Senior law enforcement officials said Teague was visiting the city with a friend, who later went to the transit station to figure out why Teague was taken into custody.
Upon searching the hotel room where the teen was staying, police found marijuana and a bong, law enforcement sources said. Teague was carrying some sort of gas mask in his bag when he was arrested, law enforcement said, and officials were investigating whether it was actually a device that can be connected to the bong to increase the high from smoking.
Videos posted on Teague's Instagram showed the teen walking around the city, with the gun sticking out the top of his backpack. He also filmed himself walking on the street shouting "I wanna go back to Columbus," and what appeared to be him and someone else bothering people asleep on the subway. The pair threw water on one man laying down sleeping, and slapping another snoozing straphanger.
The officials told News 4 that Teague said he was from Ohio and he was the legal owner of the weapon.
Three senior law enforcement officials said Teague is the son of Andrew Teague, who was killed in a wild police chase and shootout on an Ohio highway in March. His father had been wanted for an alleged assault in February.
Investigators were speaking with authorities in Ohio to determine why the younger Teague traveled to the city with the rifle and ammunition.
An FBI spokeswoman said they are aware of the gun arrest and were looking into the matter.
An investigation is ongoing.
