TikTok stars Alex and Franky Venegas of the musical duo Island Boys found themselves in hot water when their Florida home was raided on Monday.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office who spoke with TMZ, a SWAT team was called to a property rented by the social media stars on Monday as part of an investigation into a deadly drive-by shooting that took place on Friday in Belle Glade. It seems the cops weren’t actually after the musicians, but their friend and murder suspect Andrew James Thomas (inset), who they had tracked down to the Coral Springs home.
According to a police report, Alex and Andrew were home during the raid. Alex told police that when Thomas noticed the arrival of the SWAT team, he allegedly ran toward him with a black handgun that had an extended magazine. He asked for the TikToker to hide it in the home and out of sight, but Alex refused to do so.
When cops entered the home, Alex informed them that Andrew had run into the laundry room with the gun and returned without it. Upon a quick search, they found the gun in the laundry room closet.
Thomas was arrested for gun possession and violation of his probation for a separate robbery case. But, most notably, he was also booked on a first-degree murder charge after his alleged involvement in a deadly drive-by shooting, which killed an 8-year-old girl named Ronziyah Atkins.
Coral Springs Police Sergeant Ernesto Bruna told the outlet that it remains unclear if the man was staying at the home or just visiting the Island Boys. The twins claim they knew nothing about the legal trouble, as their manager tells TMZ that none of them had any clue about the murder allegations or shooting, explaining:
“ just knew him as a quiet kid and he would come and hang out and do his thing and go back to whatever he got going on but we had no clue about any of these allegations toward him.”
Andrew has been taken to Broward County Jail and is expected to be transferred to Palm Beach County. An investigation is still ongoing to determine more about the shooting.
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