Soccer pro busted fleeing with stolen gun, live ammo: NYPD
New York soccer pro Zaire Bartley was busted with a stolen gun in The Bronx after trying to speed away from cops who spotted live ammo in his car, the NYPD said Sunday.
Bartley — a 22-year-old midfielder who until two weeks ago played for New Amsterdam Football Club — was pulled over at around 9 p.m. Friday for having an expired plate on his 2017 BMW, police said.
An officer then spotted a round of live ammo in clear view in the car’s back seat — and Bartley attempted to race away when asked about it, the NYPD said.
He was arrested after being pulled over at White Plains Road and Burke Avenue, three blocks from the first stop and a mile from where he lives in the Laconia section of The Bronx, police said.
Bartley of Throop Avenue was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property and fleeing an officer in a vehicle, the NYPD said.
He is scheduled to appear in Bronx Criminal Court in April, court records show.
New Amsterdam FC told The Post that Bartley played for the team — which bills itself as itself “New York City’s ‘Club of the People’” — until he was released two weeks ago for “sporting reasons.”
Club owner Laurence Girard said the club has a “zero-tolerance” policy against illegal activity, which “typically results in a player being terminated from the club.”