Love After Lockup Antoine arrested for fentanyl & firearm possession, accidentally shot himself while running from cops? Lacey pregnant again
We have some “good” news and some bad news to report in regards to Love After Lockup Season 6 couple Lacey Rodgers and Antoine Whitaker.
Lacey is pregnant again
Starting with the “good” news, Lacey revealed on Instagram last month that she is currently pregnant with her sixth child, her second with boyfriend (still not husband), Antoine.
On Valentine’s Day, Lacey shared a photo on Instagram of a card, a box of chocolates, and three roses. “What could be significant about the 3 roses?” Lacey asked in the caption.
“You and your daughter and the new baby coming??” one commenter guessed.
Lacey replied by confirming the guess: “🥰 The 3 little ladies in his world Mama (me), Baby Antoinette and her little sister 🤭”
On Tuesday, Lacey posted a gallery of three sonograms and captioned the images by writing: “Need some suggestions for baby girls name…💜”
One of the sonogram images indicates Lacey is 25 weeks along. However, the sonogram also indicates Lacey is 40 years old. I believe Lacey is currently 41 with a birthday coming up in May.
Lacey gave birth to daughter Antoinette in October of 2022, so this might be a sonogram from that pregnancy?
In another Instagram post from earlier today, Lacey shared an update on potential baby names. “I kinda wanted to do Edy (my dad is passed on but his name Edward Charles.). Also we love ALYVIA (Olivia w an A). Or Alaceya/ Alaciana. Middle name – Lynn (same as her gramma).”
Antoine Whitaker arrested again
Lacey’s pregnancy looks to have come at a very bad time for the couple as Antoine may soon be heading back to prison.
The last time we checked in on Antoine, he had recently been arrested on 3 felony charges (including drug possession and possession of a firearm by a felon) after an alleged hit and run in May of last year. That was just seven months after Antoine and Lacey’s daughter Antoinette was born.
Fast forward five months and Antoine was arrested again for felony possession of a firearm, drug possession and DWI in yet another incident involving Antoine allegedly running away from a car crash!
Making things much worse for Antoine (and not just in a legal sense), after crashing his car he allegedly shot himself in the leg before heading off into the woods to get away from police!
Antoine arrest summary
• Antoine went inside a 7-Eleven early in the AM on October 22, 2023. An officer saw “several pieces of aluminum foil with a burnt brown tar like residue” on the dashboard of the Lexus he left parked at the gas pumps.
• When asked about the foil, Antoine said it was “not for drugs.” He got back into the car and sped off.
• Antoine crashed the Lexus into a telephone pole and hill. When officers arrived on the scene, they heard a gunshot and witnessed Antoine running off into the woods.
• Officers found Antoine, who had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his leg. His thigh had what appeared to be an entry and exit wound, as did his calf.
• Antoine insisted he didn’t have a gun, but police found the gun and some cash buried near where he was apprehended.
• Antonio was searched and officers found a burnt straw as well as a baggie with a white substance believed to be Fentanyl.
• Antoine is currently charged with felony unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree, misdemeanor DWI, and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance.
Antoine arrest details
According to the Probable Cause Affidavit, a City of Bothell police officer was checking on a homeless person at a 7-Eleven early in AM hours on October 22, 2023. As contact with the homeless person was wrapping up, the officer saw a blue 2017 Lexus ES pull in and park at the gas pumps.
“The vehicle had squealing brakes, which drew my attention to the vehicle,” the officer states in the affidavit. “I ran the license plate over the air, which returned to a Lacey Rodgers out of Snohomish.”
Antoine went inside the 7-Eleven and the officer walked over to the Lexus and looked in the window. He saw “several pieces of aluminum foil with a burnt brown tar like residue” on the dashboard.
Antoine exited the convenience store and the officer asked him about the foil. Antoine’s responses did very little to help avoid suspicion.
As I was using my flash light to observe the drug paraphernalia left in plain view inside of the Lexus, the male exited 7-Eleven. I introduced myself to him and asked him what the tin foil was being used for.
Antoine responded, ‘not for drugs.’ I explained to Antoine that his response was atypical from someone whose foil is actually not being used for drugs.
Antoine stated, ‘well I just didn’t want to incriminate myself.’ I informed Antoine that his statement was already incriminating.
When asked to provide his name, Antoine “said ‘no’ and quickly got into the driver’s seat of the vehicle.”
The officer notes in the affidavit that he “observed several signs and symptoms of possible impairment” in regards to Antoine prior to him getting back behind the wheel:
Antoine’s eye lids were droopy, with large dark circles in the area underneath his eyes. Antoine was speaking in a low raspy voice that made it difficult to understand what he was saying. Antoine’s face was grey, appearing to be absent of pigment.
While speaking with Antoine, I observed white residue on the comers of his mouth. The white residue appeared to be dried saliva, indicating dry mouth.
After Antoine was back in the car, he started it up and sped off. “In the process of accelerating from the scene, he spun his tires, making a sharp left tum, exiting the 7-Eleven parking lot to go north on SR 527 SE and turned right to go eastbound on Maltby Rd.”
The officers on the scene left in pursuit of Antoine.
The vehicle was out of sight for approximately 20 seconds. As we arrived at eastbound Maltby Rd and 29th Ave SE. I saw the Lexus had collided with a hill on the south side of Maltby Rd, just east of the intersection with 29th Ave SE. The Lexus had collided with, and knocked down, the street sign at 29th Ave SE and Maltby Rd.
There was grass on the hill that showed signs of being freshly tom out in two approximately ISO feet lines. The lines began on the hill just east of 29th Ave SE and ended at the Lexus. There was a light pole that had fresh damage to it, just west of the collision site.
The vehicle had damage to the driver side front quarter panel and hood, which was consistent with the vehicle driving up the embankment, colliding with the pole, before coming to a stop. There was steam rising from the Lexus when we arrived on scene.
Given the short amount of time that Antoine’s vehicle was out of sight, the officer assumed that he was likely still in the driver’s seat of the Lexus. “As I was running up to the vehicle, I heard the distinct sharp snap of the sound of a gunshot coming from approximately 5O feet in front of me,” the officer says.
The description of Antoine leaving the scene was eerily similar to the hit-and-run incident in May.
The sound of a gunshot directed my attention from the Lexus to the woods to the south/southeast. I briefly saw what appeared to be a male wearing a black jacket passing into the heavily wooded area out of sight. The males back was facing me as he was running south/south east into the dark woods.
Additional officers, including a K-9 unit, arrived on the scene as officers pursued Antoine through the woods.
“Periodically, throughout the woods there were spurts of blood on vegetation, the ground and trees,” the officer recalls. “The blood appeared fresh as it was wet and had not congealed or hardened. We continued to track, finding spots of blood throughout.”
The officer notes that he did not see any blood inside the crashed Lexus. The fact that there was so much blood on the trail caused him to believe Antoine’s injury was not caused by the crash.
I believed the gunshot that I had heard upon initial contact had likely been a negligent discharge that had struck himself. Based on my training and experience, a gunshot wound would have produced the amount of blood seen on the trail. I asked dispatch to advise surrounding hospitals to notify police if a gunshot victim arrived for treatment, if the suspect had escaped containment.
Police eventually found Antoine lying face down, but apparently well enough to respond to questions.
Antoine’s wound was described in the affidavit:
Upon initial contact, Antoine had two distinct holes in his left calf. One of the holes was in the rear of the upper part of his left calf, just below the back of his knee. The second obvious hole was in the front of his left calf, left of his shin bone, approximately 6 inches below the knee.
…[Another officer with more medical training] determined there were a total of four holes. A hole in the front upper portion of Antoine’s thigh, and a hole in the lower portion of his left thigh just above the back of the knee were discovered. All of the holes were bleeding and appeared fresh.
The wounds were approximately 9mm in width. Based on my training and experience, the holes in Antoine’s left leg resembled entry and exit wounds from a bullet passing through his upper thigh, out of the area behind his knee and through his calf. The injury was consistent with a negligent discharge where the firearm was being appendix carried with the muzzle being pointed left of center. Appendix carrying a firearm refers to the firearm being held in place in the waist band.
An officer asked Antoine where he had ditched the gun, and “Antoine stated he didn’t have a gun.”
An officer informed Antoine they knew he had a gun due to his apparent bullet wound, and they asked if he had ditched the gun or hidden it. Antoine repeated that he did not have a gun.
I asked Antoine how he had gotten a bullet hole through his leg. Antoine stated, ‘I don’t know.’
I advised Antoine that the property that he had ran through is an area where children or uninvolved persons may stumble across the firearm, and wanted to recover the firearm for safety reasons. Antoine stated he wanted a lawyer.
I tried to clarify if he wanted a lawyer or if he wanted to tell me where the firearm was. I asked Antoine if he was declining to tell me where the firearm was and he wanted to talk to an attorney. Antoine stated ‘I didn’t have a gun.’
I advised Antoine that we knew he had a gun, Antoine interrupted and asked if I had seen it.
I told Antoine that he had a bullet hole through his leg, and when we saw him in 7-Eleven he did not have a bullet hole. I told Antoine that I had heard the gunshot and saw him running into the woods.
The officer continued to ask Antoine about the gun, and he continued to say he didn’t have one.
Police gave up the line of questioning and proceeded to search Antoine.
Located in Antoine’s front right pocket were three small zip top baggies. Located inside one of the small plastic zip top baggies, was a white powdery substance. Based on my training and experience, I recognized the white powdery substance as Fentanyl. Fentanyl and other illicit narcotics are commonly packaged in small zip top baggies.
Located in Antoine’s front right pocket was a small green and clear burnt plastic straw with a black residue within. Based on my training and experience, I recognized the burnt plastic straw as drug paraphernalia, commonly referred to as a ‘tooter.’ Tooters are commonly used to inhale illicit narcotics after they have been heated, using a lighter or heat source, off of foil.
Before police could even ask Antoine about the white powdery substance, he said it was baking soda.
Two officers and a K9 soon located “a firearm and a wad of cash buried next to a tree” along the route that Antoine had been tracked on. There was a pool of blood next to the location where the gun and cash were buried.
The officer attempted to “clear” the firearm before taking it to the police station.
I racked the slide to the pistol. Typically racking the slide will eject a round, or a spent casing. Racking the slide of the Glock revealed a signal spent casing. The casing was stuck in the barrel and failed to eject with the initial rack of the slide. This indicated the pistol had been fired, and jammed, due to the shell casing preventing another round from entering the barrel, as well as preventing the casing from ejecting during routine firing conditions. With a harder pull on the slide, one shell casing ejected and fell to the forest floor. I collected the ejected shell casing from the firearm.
The temperature at the time the gun was found was 40 degrees. “The firearm barrel was slightly warm to the touch, with no condensation or moisture on the firearm itself,” the officer states in the affidavit. “The temperature of the firearm, as well as the lack of condensation or moisture indicated that the firearm had not been in the woods for a long period of time.”
Antoine was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
#LoveAfterLockup inmate Antoine has been arrested again! Get details on his arrest earlier this month, plus a timeline of his prior convictions. #LockupAfterLoveAfterLockup https://t.co/fyTwbv8adZ
— Starcasm (@starcasm) March 11, 2022
Antoine court case update
Antoine was arrested and is currently charged with felony unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree, misdemeanor DWI, and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance.
That’s actually not too bad considering Antoine was initially facing potential charges of reckless driving, hit and run unattended property, aiming or discharging firearms, driving while license suspended/revoked 3rd degree, and no ignition interlock device.
Antoine also appears to have caught a break with the misdemeanor-level DWI charge. From the affidavit:
In the past 10 years, Antoine has been arrested for DUIO five times. Because Antoine has had more than three prior DUI offenses in the past 1O years, I determined there was probable cause to arrest Antoine for violation of RCW 46.6l.502(6)(a) Felony DUI.
Given Antoine’s history of attempting to elude police and failing to appear at court hearings, it makes sense that prosecutors would ask for a high bond amount. From the affidavit:
The State requests that the court set bail in the amount of $100,000, as previously set in District Court because: the defendant’s criminal and warrant history show that he is likely to fail to appear in court, commit a violent offense, and interfere with the administration of justice. The defendant has 21 lifetime warrants and 7 felony convictions. In this case, he ran from police after driving recklessly and crashing his car. He also has a referred Hit & Run Injury case with the prosecutor’s office from July 2023. He isn’t supposed to be driving at all but continues to do so, even after using drugs.
Antoine’s bond was set at $30,000, which he posted on November 14. His case is still open with a trial date set for July 19.
It’s unclear how far along Lacey is in her pregnancy, or when she is due.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
