(CNN) — Rapper Daniel Hernández, known as Tekashi 6ix9ine, suffered injuries and was taken to a hospital after an altercation at an LA gym in South Florida on Tuesday night, a statement from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office reported.
“Officials responded to an attack at LA Fitness in the 8000 block of Lantana Road in Lake Worth,” the statement said. “Upon arrival, the police learned that there had been an altercation between several people inside the company, in which the victim, Daniel Hernández, was injured.”
According to authorities, Hernandez’s injuries are not life-threatening and he is being treated at a local hospital. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.
Hernandez’s attorney, Lance Lazzaro, told CNN in a statement that the rapper “was attacked in a fitness sauna by three or four thugs who hit him (he was trying to defend himself).”
“He had cuts on his face and bruises. Staff heard the altercation and the attackers fled. The South Florida Police Department was called and he was taken to a local hospital in an ambulance.”
Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine in a photo taken in a courtroom in Houston, Texas on August 22, 2018 (Credit: Bob Levey/Getty Images)
CNN previously reported that the Brooklyn-born rapper committed a string of violent crimes in 2019 before ratting on his former gangmates and being sentenced to two years in prison.
He had pleaded guilty to racketeering, gun possession and drug trafficking charges in connection with multiple shootings and assaults in New York City. He was also sentenced to five years probation and over 300 hours of community service.
In 2020, Tekashi 6ix9ine was released from federal prison after his attorney said the rapper’s asthma made him vulnerable to Covid-19, CNN reported at the time.
The rapper will serve the remainder of his sentence at home, defense attorney Lance Lazzaro told CNN at the time. His release came about four months before Hernández had served his two-year sentence.