Alibay Barkley, the father of Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, was arrested following a traffic stop Wednesday night in New York City and faces felony charges including criminal possession of a loaded firearm, police said.
Police stopped a Chevrolet Corvette for an obstructed license plate that did not match the vehicle, and an investigation determined Alibay Barkley, 55, was in possession of the firearm and that the vehicle was unregistered, according to a spokesperson for the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of public Information office.
Last night, the Public Safety Team observed a traffic infraction, conducted a car stop, and arrested the driver, who had a loaded firearm. Your Public Safety Team continues to work diligently to remove illegal guns from the streets of NYC.
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews)
“That is my wife’s gun,” Alibay Barkley, who lives in Whitehall Township, told police, according to the complaint obtained by WABC-TV and the New York Post.
“We keep it for safety because of who my son is and because we come back to the Bronx to visit a lot.”
Alibay Barkley was released on bail Thursday and has an appearance scheduled for Tuesday in Bronx Supreme Criminal Court, according to records, which also show a separate felony weapon possession charge from a previous conviction.
Alibay Barkley told ESPN in 2018 that he spent nearly a year inside Rikers Island for violating probation with an arrest for possessing an unlicensed gun while he was a teenager.
Saquon Barkley was born in the Bronx before his family moved to Pennsylvania and eventually settled in Coplay as he starred in football for Whitehall High School and then later at Penn State.
He was a Pro Bowl running back for the New York Giants during his six seasons before signing a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the Eagles in March.
His representation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2018, Alibay Barkley settled a lawsuit against Allentown and the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, alleging he was stunned by a city police officer with a Taser during a dispute about a bus pass in August 2017.
The city and LANTA agreed to pay him $45,000 to discontinue the federal civil rights lawsuit. Alibay Barkley alleged race was a factor in the incident.
첥Ƶ contributed to this report.
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