Courtesy of cliffdumas.com
Authorities used various investigative techniques, including monitoring of dialogue on social media pages belonging to gang members.
By Forum Staff
Gang violence has again been successfully targeted by the Queens DA’s office and the NYPD, after six members of the Wood City Gang- a subset of the Bloods – were indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiracy to kill rival gang members between April 2017 and June 2017.
District Attorney Brown said, “This indictment is another example of police and prosecutors working together to eliminate gang violence. The defendants in this case are accused of shooting at two rival gang members – creating havoc in our neighborhoods and threatening the lives and safety of innocent bystanders.” District Attorney Brown continued, “The defendants are variously accused of turning our communities into danger zones with senseless gun violence. The individuals are charged with acting in concert with one or more co-defendants to shoot and wound rival gang members. Their alleged criminal and violent acts have no place in a civilized society.”
The six defendants – ranging in age from 22 to 29 – operated within the confines of the New York City Police Department’s 113th and 103rd Precinct, specifically the geographical area in and around Springfield Gardens and St. Albans within Jamaica.
The criminal charges are set forth in a 22-count indictment.
The long-term investigation – spearheaded by the New York City Police Department’s Queens South Gang Squad’s Criminal Investigations Task Force and the Queens District Attorney’s Gang Violence and Hate Crimes Bureau used a multi-pronged platform in their joint investigation.
They monitored telephone conversations and dialogue on social media pages belonging to gang members. On the recordings and social media, gang members discussed a previous shooting and their intentions to target other rivals in future shootings.
According to the indictment, on April 3, 2017, a member of the Wood City gang was targeted in a shooting by a rival gang member. In retaliation, on April 4, 2017, defendant Kaminski Gauthier is alleged to have attempted to kill two members of the SNOW street gang. On May 24, 2017, a member of the SNOW gang was the subject of an attempted murder allegedly by defendants Brandon Bledman and James Gomez. Ballistics showed the gun used in the shooting belonged to Bledman. The following day, during a phone call between Bledman and another individual, the two discussed the previous day’s shooting and indicated defendant Gomez was involved. Then, on June 13, 2017, defendants Nahzaya Grant and Demetires Anderson were seen on surveillance video footage before and during a shooting of a rival gang member.
NYPD Commissioner Paul O’Neill said, “Precisely targeting violent criminals like these, the small percentage of our population responsible for driving much of the violence and disorder, is the way we will continue to keep all New Yorkers safe. Dismantling gangs and preventing the violence associated with them, is our way forward.”
