Migos rapper Offset wanted after metro Atlanta Target incident

Rapper Offset is facing a felony charge of damage to property after an incident Friday at a Target in Sandy Springs, police confirmed to AJC.com.

Sandy Springs police have issued an arrest warrant for the Migos member, whose real name is Kiari Cephus. The metro Atlanta native shares a daughter, Kulture, with his rapper wife Cardi B.

Video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the rapper slap a cellphone out of a fan’s hands while the fan was recording. Target cash registers can be seen in the background.

According to a police report obtained by AJC.com, officers were called to the Target at 5570 Roswell Road to investigate damage to property. The victim, 18-year-old Junior Gibbons, told police his $800 iPhone 8 was destroyed.

Gibbons spoke to Channel 2 about the incident, saying he’s a fan who wanted to show his friends how close he was to the rapper.

“When he put his hands up, I thought he was gonna throw up some gang signs or something, but he ended up just smacking my phone down,” he said. “He didn’t really have to smack my phone like that.”

While Gibbons said he doesn’t think Cephus should “go to jail or anything,” he wishes the rapper would buy him a new phone.

The entertainer’s attorney, Drew Findling, sent Channel 2 a statement about the incident Thursday night, which said his client is being “exploited” for an “extended payday.”

“This incident, which took place as Mr. Cephus was simply trying to buy items for his youngest child, was not reported to police for 4 days,” the statement continued. “This so-called ‘Victim’ instead took to social media for an extended 15 minutes of fame. There has been absolutely no investigation and nothing has been shown to indicate Mr. Cephus is the cause of any damage to this person’s property. The felony warrant is disgraceful and should be dismissed immediately.”

This is not the first time Cephus has faced criminal charges in Georgia. In July 2018, he and his bodyguard were arrested in Jonesboro after a traffic stop. The rapper was charged with making an improper lane change, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and possession of a weapon by a felon.

Those charges are still pending in Clayton County, records show.

In 2015, all three members of Migos were arrested leaving a show at Georgia Southern University. Cephus, along with Quavious Marshall, known as “Quavo,” and Kirshnick Ball, or “Takeoff,” were taken into custody after authorities accused them of possessing firearms and drugs on the school’s campus.

MORE: More charges for Migos rapper 'Offset' after fight in jail

While he was being held on those charges in the Bulloch County Jail, Cephus was also charged in a fight with another inmate. He entered guilty pleas in both incidents and was released in December 2015, the Statesboro Herald reported.

The group's chart-topping hit “Bad and Boujee” ended 2017 at No. 6 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 chart. The rap trio has had three other Top 10 singles.