'Wild West' in New York City? The bodyguards of Tekashi 6ix9ine have been indicted on robbery and other counts related to the Harlem pursuit.

'Wild West' in New York City? The bodyguards of Tekashi 6ix9ine have been indicted on robbery and other counts related to the Harlem pursuit.

Last summer, Tekashi 6ix9ine's bodyguards turned New York City into the Wild West, piling into SUVs and pursuing a guy for 20 blocks with lights flashing after he attempted to take cellphone footage of the problematic rapper, according to authorities.

Five members of 6ix9ine's security crew were charged Monday on robbery, false identity, and other counts arising from the pursuit last August in Harlem, including a former New York City police detective accused of lying and attempting to cover up the event.

The rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, the actual name Daniel Hernandez, was not charged.

In a prepared statement announcing the indictments, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said, "A celebrity entourage is not a police force, and Manhattan is not the Wild West."

"These well-paid vigilantes allegedly caravanned through the streets of Harlem with sirens blaring in order to track down a man and take and shatter his phone," Vance said.

According to Vance, Daniel Laperuta, a former NYPD detective, falsely stated to police officers and a 911 dispatcher that the guy being followed had threatened 6ix9ine's crew with a pistol.

The man's mobile phone was knocked out and crushed when 6ix9ine's security eventually confronted him, boxing him in with their SUVs near the Apollo Theater.

Laperuta approached with his hand on his holstered revolver and another bodyguard aimed a stun gun at the guy while the man fought with one of the bodyguards in an effort to reclaim the phone, Vance said.

According to Vance, the security crew escaped in the SUVs as an unmarked police car approached with lights flashing.

Laperuta entered a not guilty plea on Monday and was scheduled to post bond later that day.

The security team's other members were scheduled to be arraigned later Monday.

Todd Cushner, Laperuta's lawyer, said he was looking into the accusations against the former investigator.

"For the most part, they're unfounded," Cushner said.

The lawyers for the other members of Tekashi 6ix9ine's security crew who were accused were not listed in online court records. Lawyers who have previously represented the artist have been contacted for comment.

6ix9ine, a Brooklyn native, rose to hip-hop stardom after becoming a social media sensation with millions of Instagram followers. He had a multiplatinum smash single with Nicki Minaj, "Fefe," which reached No. 3 on the pop charts in 2018, and a multiplatinum hit song with jailed rapper Bobby Shmurda, "Stoopid."

He's been in and out of court — and prison — since then.

Faced with a required minimum sentence of 37 years in prison for gang offenses such as reportedly organizing a gunshot that injured an innocent bystander, 6ix9ine began collaborating with federal prosecutors and testifying against members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.

He also claimed that in July 2018, two men abducted him and forced him into a stolen car at gunpoint, stopping at times to abuse and humiliate him before driving him to his Brooklyn home and snatching a bag full of jewels.

6ix9ine's cooperation garnered him clemency from prosecutors but contempt from his peers, with Snoop Dogg referring to him as a "snitch."

6ix9ine was sentenced to two years in federal prison in December 2019. Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, a court-ordered him freed to home confinement just a few months later.

Tekashi 6ix9ine told jurors in 2019 that his job in the Nine Trey gang was to "just keep creating songs and being the financial support...so they could get firearms and stuff like that."

When asked what he received in exchange, 6ix9ine said: "My professional life. I was able to establish credibility on the street. All of the above: the movies, the music, and the security."