The legendary former Detroit gangster and undercover FBI informant known as “White Boy Rick” was arrested once again after allegedly attacking his girlfriend who got angry at him when he said someone else’s name while they were having sex.
Richard Wershe Jr., 53 – whose life as a young drug dealer-turned-informant inspired the film “White Boy Rick,” starring Matthew McConaughey – was booked on Wednesday after allegedly hitting his girlfriend in his Miami condo, WPLG-TV reported.
The girlfriend, who was not identified, alleged that she got into an argument with Wershe on Saturday after he “uttered another woman’s name,” Miami police said.
The woman tried to leave the bed, but Wershe allegedly grabbed her hand and snatched a diamond bracelet and necklace he had gifted her.
The girlfriend told police she managed to pull away by throwing a shoe at him, but she missed, leading Wershe to run over to her and punch her in the chest.
A witness, who was not identified nor specified why they were present at the scene, corroborated the victim’s story.
Police noted that the girlfriend had waited until Tuesday to report the incident because she was worried about her immigration status.
Wershe was subsequently arrested and charged with felony robbery by sudden snatching and a misdemeanor battery charge.
He was released from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $5,000 bond on Wednesday,
Wershe, who became the youngest informant in FBI history after working with federal authorities when he was just 14, was released from Florida prison in July 2020.
He was originally arrested in 1987 in Detroit with 8 kilos of cocaine and close to $30,000 and was later convicted of possession with intent to deliver more than 650 grams of cocaine.
He was then sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, according to the Free Press.
Wershe went on to become Michigan’s longest-serving nonviolent juvenile offender in state history, serving roughly three decades behind bars.
Wershe’s story — including how he earned his nickname while living in a predominantly black Detroit neighborhood at the height of the 1980s crack epidemic — has been the subject of several documentaries and a feature film in which actor Matthew McConaughey plays Wershe’s father.
