Murderous Crack Gangs Busted

Murderous Crack Gangs Busted

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BRONX, NEW YORK (BRONX NEWS)- Residents are relieved that members of two rival gangs who battled it out for control of the crack trade in Soundview are now behind bars thanks to the feds and NYPD.

            

Law enforcement officials announced the unsealing of two indictments charging a total of 17 members and associates of two Bronx-based street gangs, the Taylor Avenue Crew and the Leland Avenue Crew, with various racketeering and narcotics offenses, including two murders of rival gang members.

            

Twelve of the 17 defendants, James Capers, Tommy Brown, Jesse Irvin, Edwin Moye, Unique Christopher, Dante Rodgers, Irvin Ortiz, Elijah Davila, Ricardo Garcia, Pablo Chevere, Gladys Morals, Kenneth Mercado and Andrea Bell were taken into federal custody.

Four of the defendants, Marquise Rochester. Christian McKnight, Samuel Serrano and Messiah Perry are currently incarcerated in state custody on other charges, and will be presented at a later date.      

            

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Members of the Taylor Avenue and Leland Avenue Crews allegedly wreaked havoc on the community through the sale of crack cocaine and a wave of violence on the streets of the Bronx.  On two occasions, that violence allegedly ended in the murders of rival gang members.”

            

HSI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Glenn Sorge said: “Today’s arrests deal a serious blow to two gangs that allegedly used the streets of New York City to sell drugs and commit acts of violence including murder. HSI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to rid the streets of these dangerous criminal organizations that instill fear in our communities.”

            

DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt said: “Drug trafficking inevitably leads to further crime and violence, as depicted in the alleged charges against the members of the Leland Avenue and Taylor Avenue Crews. Through a common goal, law enforcement pooled resources to investigate and arrest those who converted their Avenues into their own private battlefields.”                                       

            

Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said: “These indictments and arrests are the result of the collaborative power of law enforcement to address narcotics sales and street level shootings, crimes which are often committed by just a few individuals but affect a great many more. I would like to thank the NYPD investigators and our federal law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly to protect this Bronx community and bring justice to those responsible for this scourge of drugs, death and violence.”

            

As alleged in the Indictments unsealed in Manhattan federal court:

The Taylor Avenue Crew was a criminal enterprise that operated principally in and around the Bronx from at least 2012 up to and including 2015. One of the Taylor Avenue Crew’s principal objectives was to sell cocaine base, commonly known as “crack cocaine,” primarily in and around Taylor Avenue in the Bronx.  The Taylor Avenue Crew controlled crack cocaine sales within this area by prohibiting and preventing non-members, outsiders, and rival narcotics dealers from distributing crack cocaine in the area controlled by the enterprise.

Members and associates of the Taylor Avenue Crew engaged in acts of violence against the Leland Avenue Crew, a rival gang that sold crack cocaine primarily in and around Leland Avenue, which runs parallel to Taylor Avenue and is located two blocks east. These acts of violence included assaults, attempted murder, and murder, and were committed to protect the Taylor Avenue Crew’s drug territory, to retaliate against members of rival gangs who had encroached on the territory controlled by the Taylor Avenue Crew, and to otherwise promote the standing and reputation of the Taylor Avenue Crew amongst rival gangs.

The violence perpetrated by the Taylor Avenue Crew turned deadly in March 2015. On or about March 3, 2015, Elijah Davila and Allen McQueen, a now deceased member of the Taylor Avenue Crew, murdered Pablo Beard, a member of the Leland Avenue Crew, by shooting Beard in the vicinity of 1512 Leland Avenue in the Bronx.  As alleged in the Ortiz Indictment, Davila committed this murder to maintain and increase his position in the Taylor Avenue Crew.

Counts Two, Three, Six, and Eight charge Davila with conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering activity, murder in aid of racketeering activity, murder in connection with a drug crime, and a related firearms offense in connection with the March 2015 murder of Pablo Beard.

Count Four of the Ortiz Indictment charges Mercado with assault and attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity in connection with the August 2015 shooting of members of the Leland Avenue Crew.

The Leland Avenue Crew was a criminal enterprise that operated principally in and around the Bronx, New York, from at least 2012 up to and including 2015. One of the principal objectives of the Leland Avenue Crew was to sell crack cocaine, primarily in and around Leland Avenue in the Bronx. Members and associates of the Leland Avenue Crew engaged in acts of violence against the Taylor Avenue Crew.  These acts of violence included assaults, attempted murder, and murder intended either to protect the Leland Avenue Crew’s drug territory, retaliate against members of rival gangs who had encroached on the territory controlled by the Leland Avenue Crew, or to otherwise promote the standing and reputation of the Leland Avenue Crew among rival gangs.

The violence perpetrated by the Leland Avenue Crew also turned deadly in July 2015. On or about July 7, 2015, James Capers murdered Allen McQueen, a member of the Taylor Avenue Crew, by shooting McQueen in the vicinity of 1531 Taylor Avenue in the Bronx. As alleged in the Capers Indictment, Capers committed this murder to maintain and increase his position in the Leland Avenue Crew.

Counts Two, Four, and Five charge Capers with murder in aid of racketeering activity, murder in connection with a drug crime, and a related firearms offense, in connection with the July 2015 murder of Allen McQueen.

#Taylor Avenue Crew, #Leland Avenue Crew, #Drug Gangs #Crack, #NYPD

Parkchester Murder Not Gang- Related-Mother insists

Parkchester Murder Not Gang- Related-Mother insists

By David Greene

 

BRONX, NEW YORK (BRONX NEWS)- The mother of a Bronx gang member, who was shot dead as he shielded his one year-old child, claims that his death was not 'gang-related.' The mother continues to believe it was not gang related even after NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton publicly stated that it was.

 

Regina McQueen fumed, "They had gang-related in the paper, but it wasn't gang-related. Even the assistant district attorney was telling me it wasn't gang-related."

 

Her son Allen McQueen, 21, was taking his daughter Taylor to the Taylor Playground on July 7, when he was hunted down in the street and shot outside the playground gates. Somehow McQueen managed to shield Taylor from the barrage of gunfire.

 

After McQueen's death police released a surveillance video of the suspect who was observed laughing after firing four-shots at McQueen at point-blank range, before jumping into a nearby get-a-way vehicle.

 

On July 21, detectives announced the arrest of James Capers, 22, who was charged with murder, manslaughter and weapons possession. The McQuuen family would like to see a charge of child endangerment added to the charges that Capers now faces.

 

The heartbroken mother recalled how McQueen grew up on Taylor Avenue in the Unionport Section, had attended Jeffery Rappaport High School and enjoyed singing and playing basketball. She added, "He was working on a rap song. It sounds kind of good, too bad he didn't finish it."

 

Regina McQueen admitted her son was a gang member and believes Capers to be from a rival gang-- but could not offer an explanation or motive for the killing.

 

One source in West Farms described an all-out gang war, when he stated last month that a De facto war was in effect, adding, "The situation is there are the Bloods and Crips gangs and the Crips are getting bigger and what is happening is that their initiation is to shoot the enemy like the Bloods and the Latin Kings."

 

The source claimed that this new turf war was taking place in Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Fordham, Tremont, West Farms and Parkchester, but the claim could not yet be confirmed by law enforcement officials. 

Ban sex offenders from shelters-pols demand

Ban sex offenders from shelters-pols demand

#SexOffenders #Homeless #Shelters #NYPD

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 25- State Senator and Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein), together with Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, Councilman James Vacca, members of Community Board 10, the Ferry Point Park Civic Association and Friends of Ferry Point Park called on the New York City Department of Homeless Services to ban level two and level three sex offenders from temporary emergency housing and homeless shelters used to house families with children.

“Allowing high-level sex offenders to stay in family shelters where vulnerable women and children are trying to get back on their feet is not only troublesome but dangerous. With more than 60,000 homeless New Yorkers sleeping in New York City shelters and thousands more out on the street, we need to take every measure to protect those in our care,” said Senator Klein. “That’s why I have introduced legislation in the State Senate that would prohibit the NYC Department of Homeless Services from placing these risky offenders in shelters housing women and children. This is a critical measure in ensuring the safety and security of all homeless New Yorkers and I look forward to working with my partners in Albany to see this important piece of legislation passed in the coming weeks and months.”

The renewed call comes in response to shocking revelations and widespread press reports that two male sex offenders currently reside at the Crystal Family Residence, a new 95-room family shelter and former location of the controversial Capri Whitestone Motel in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx. Curtis Bolden, a 58-year-old male, convicted on two counts of rape in the first degree and released from prison in 2010, was found to be living at the shelter on January 15th. One week later, James Bryant, a 50-year-old male convicted of molesting a 7-year-old child, was also found to be living at the family shelter.  

Senator Klein’s legislation would prevent harmful predators, including level two and level three sex offenders, from being housed in family shelters and require by law that they be placed in adult-only shelters or shelters without children. This important legislation would bring the shelter system up to speed with current social services law that bars level two and level three sex offenders from living in public housing.

“The Department of Homeless services had acted with arrogance when they forced this shelter upon our community and refused to work with with elected leaders in finding an alternative site,” said Assemblyman Benedetto. “Now they have apparently shown incompetence in selecting a managing agent who doesn’t bother checking whether they are putting sex offenders in a shelter where young children are being housed. This is intolerable.”

“Our shelters are safe havens for families and children experiencing the most difficult of hardships,” said Bronx Councilman Vacca. “We cannot, in good conscience, accept the risk of allowing sex offenders to live in close quarters with these already vulnerable families.”

“We fully support this positive change directed at the safety and welfare of residents at the Crystal Family Residence. This is a significant first step in making New York City shelters safer for the women and children who reside there, but there is still work to be done,” said Martin Prince, Board Chair of Community Board 10. “The homeless population in New York has increased astronomically in recent years. Making sure that each and every person who needs a home is provided with the safe haven they so deserve is of the utmost importance.” 

“As we try to adjust to this ‘surprise’ homeless shelter that was placed about 200 ft. away from our very populated park, with no security cameras and or Parks Enforcement Patrol we are now shocked by the knowledge that sex offenders imported from other areas are also living among the families without their knowledge,” said Dorthea Poggi, President of the Friends of Ferry Point Park Organization and member of the Citizens Advice Board for the Crystal Family Residence. "This is unacceptable by any responsible standards.” 

“In our opinion, while it’s nice to provide shelter to those in need, it is not without consequences. It has been brought to our attention that there are registered sex offenders residing at the former Capri Motel, now known as the Crystal Family Residence. The proximity to Msgr. Scanlan High School, Ferry Point Park and the newly developed Target location, as well as residents and homeowners of Ferry Point, is questionable,” said Jo Anne Sohmers, President of the Ferry Point Civic Association. “Furthermore, sex offenders should not be placed in a home that clearly houses women and children. We fully support Senator Klein's efforts to pass a bill which would ban registered sex offenders from residing in any family homeless shelter.”

The Crystal Family Residence is a family homeless shelter located at 555 Hutchinson River Parkway in the Bronx. The new residence was converted from the former hot-sheet hotel, the Capri Whitestone, in September, 2015.