ST. LOUIS – A documented gang recruiter was arrested Tuesday while attempting to film a music video just north of Downtown St. Louis.

According to Mitch McCoy, spokesman for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, officers in the Intelligence Division had been searching for Markel Davis for probation violations connected to drug and gun charges.

McCoy said Davis, 23, is a known gang member and recruiter. Though the gang was not named, McCoy said they operated in the region in Missouri and Illinois.

Davis allegedly fled St. Louis sometime in September to avoid law enforcement. However, McCoy said detectives recently learned Davis had come back a couple of days ago and was planning to be part of a music video shoot in the area of 14th Street and Cass Avenue, in the city’s Carr Square neighborhood.

Detectives were in the area on Tuesday to conduct surveillance and observed a Jeep with four heavily armed people in the vehicle, McCoy said. Davis repeatedly got in and out of the Jeep.

When police went to make a traffic stop on the vehicle, the driver of the Jeep attempted to speed off. The Jeep’s tires were spiked, McCoy said, and the four people in the Jeep eventually ditched the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot. They were arrested moments later. Three guns were seized: two from inside the Jeep and a third that had been from the vehicle. McCoy said two of the firearms were assault-style rifles.

During the commotion, Davis ran and hid inside an apartment near 14th and Cass. Officers eventually went inside the residence and found Davis hiding in a bathtub, McCoy said. In addition to the probation violation, Davis had warrants out for his arrest in a neighboring jurisdiction, though police did not say which one.

McCoy said detectives are reviewing matters before applying for charges with the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office.