Yesterday, Wilkes-Barre Township police department posted a photo to their Facebook account asking area residents to keep an eye out for the man who stole a puppy from the local pet store, Brookside Pups, alongside a photo of Lil Uzi Vert.
The post remained with Lil Uzi’s face next to the dognapping claims for at least half an hour before the police department realized they had made a mistake that needed to be fixed. But the short life span that the post had was plenty of time for the internet to go wild over the department accusing Lil Uzi Vert of dognapping.
The allegations came as a surprise to everyone, especially Uzi and their team since they were not even near the Wilkes-Barre area at the time the dog was taken. The only connection to the rapper seemed to be that the actual dognapper was spotted heading toward Philadelphia, which happens to be Uzi’s hometown.
According to the police, the true suspect had a photo of Lil Uzi Vert as their profile photo on Facebook, which is how the rapper’s face was originally posted alongside the allegations. Despite this explanation from the police, Uzi’s team at Roc Nation did not find the mistake as funny as many on the internet did.
Roc Nation issued a statement saying: “The Wilkes-Barre Township Police Department should be embarrassed and ashamed for disparaging [Uzi’s] character. This grave error could’ve had significant repercussions on Uzi’s career and epitomizes how Black men can be wrongfully charged and arrested by police departments across the country. Uzi loves all animals and this serious mistake has deterred the apprehension of the kidnapper. Out collective hope is that the puppy is safely and promptly rescued.”
Lil Uzi Vert has not personally responded to or made any comments toward the police’s mix- up.