BROOKLYN — With gun violence on the rise, NYPD officers arrested alleged gang members tied to 11 shootings as part of a predawn operation in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors charged 14 alleged members of the Babiiez: a younger subset of the Insane Crip Gangsta street gang. The oldest person charged in the 81-count indictment is 21.
“It is disturbing that young people in our communities are engaged in the type of brazen and senseless gun violence described in this indictment,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
The NYPD investigation focused on “upper echelons” of the organization, Commissioner Dermot Shea said.
“Our case focused on the violent street crime that has too often shattered life for those who live and work in our Brooklyn neighborhoods,” he said.
The alleged gang members worked out of Flatbush in an area they called “The Castle,” officials said. The police investigation found they allegedly boasted about crimes on social media and in recorded Rikers Island jail phone calls.
Prosecutors identified those charged as:
- Tristian Williams, 19, of East New York, Brooklyn.
- Jaden Occean, 18, of Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn.
- Timothy Spence, 17, of Flatbush, Brooklyn.
- Moustapha Diop, 19, of Flatbush, Brooklyn.
- Jahmaree Dublin, 19, of East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
- Malik Bacchus, 19, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
- Kymani Salkey, 18, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
- Amath Kebe, 18, of East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
- Jarell Swan, 18, of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
- Darius Omotunde, 19, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
- Abu Gaye, 19, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
- Bobby Thomas, 20, of East New York, Brooklyn.
- Malik Harry, 21, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
- Krisaiya Blount, 16, East New York, Brooklyn.
Charges include: first-, second- and fourth-degree conspiracy, second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree assault, fourth-degree grand larceny, first-degree reckless endangerment, fourth-degree criminal facilitation and false personation.
