Alibay Barkley, father of Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, was arrested in New York City earlier this week.
The New York City Police Department confirmed to TMZ Sports that Alibay was arrested after being pulled over on Wednesday evening because his car had “obstructed license plates that did not match the vehicle.”
Police discovered the car was unregistered and allegedly found a loaded firearm that was illegally in the vehicle. Alibay was booked on several charges, including criminal possession of a weapon-loaded firearm. Records show he was released from custody on Thursday.
Saquon has spoken in the past about his father being his biggest supporter.
“My dad, he’s my biggest fan, him and my brother (Rashard). My dad has been through a lot,” Barkley told Mark Wogenrich of the Allentown Morning Call in 2016 (h/t Mike Gross of LancasterOnline.com). “He made that a big point when I was young: Don’t make the same mistakes he did in life.”
Gross noted Alibay was previously arrested as a 19-year-old on a gun charge when he was on probation and spent one year in prison. Saquon’s mother, Tonya Johnson, moved the family to Pennsylvania, where Alibay eventually joined them after his release.
“A lot of people in life try to look at my father’s story and try to talk bad about it, but the thing is you have to respect him,” Saquon told reporters during his pro day at Penn State in March 2018. “You have to respect him, as a man. A lot of people can’t look their kids in the face and tell them that the decisions that they made were awful, and the decisions that they made were bad. That helped me.”
