Cleanthony Early, Knicks Forward, Reportedly Shot in Uber Robbery

Image via Michael Tipton/Flickr

MASPETH, QUEENS — Cleanthony Early, a Bronx native and 24-year-old forward for the New York Knicks basketball team, was shot in the knee during a hold-up of his Uber cab in the wee hours Wednesday morning, according to the New York Daily News.

Early had reportedly just left the CityScapes Gentleman’s Club in Maspeth, just across Newtown Creek from Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

The NYPD confirmed to Patch that around 4:30 a.m., police responded to a 911 call of a 24-year-old male shot in the right leg at 51-10 64th St. (About a mile from the club.)

When police officers arrived at the scene, an NYPD spokeswoman told Patch, the shooting victim told them he had been robbed by four to six black males a few blocks away, at 64-70 Maurice Ave.

The robbery victim, identified by multiple news outlets as Early, was transported to nearby Elmhurst Hospital in stable condition, police said.

Knicks management wrote in a statement posted to Twitter that the team was “aware of what occurred with Cleanthony Early this morning and are relieved that he is not in a life-threatening situation.”

A man who answered the phone at CityScapes late Wednesday morning immediately hung up the phone when he learned a reporter was calling.

“Police sources” told the Daily News that Early was traveling in an Uber with his girlfriend, leaving the strip club, when their vehicle was boxed in by three cars. A group of armed robbers then exited the cars and held up the Uber, robbing Early of “his cash, gold caps on his teeth, and two gold chains, as well as his iPhone 6,” the police sources reportedly said, “before shooting Early in the right knee.”

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.