Saturday, April 23, 2011

Wild Gunfight In Bx. Cops Kill Man In Shootout After Drug Bust (Sunday, June 30, 1996)

Two drug gang members led cops on a wild car chase and running gun battle through the Bronx last night that ended with one gunman's death in a hail of cop bullets, police said.
The second gunman was shot and wounded when the pair crashed their blue Chevrolet in East Tremont and engaged cops in a final firefight that scattered pedestrians, said Officer Robert Samuel, a police spokesman.
The drama began at 7:40 p.m. when cops and Drug Enforcement Administration agents descended on the Bronx Terminal Market to arrest nine members of a violent drug gang in a sting operation, Samuel said.
Seven of the suspects who had been sitting in two idling cars surrendered at the rear of the market.
But two gang members, armed with a machine pistol, an Uzi and a revolver, tried to escape by gunning the Chevrolet's engine and blasting at cops through their car windows, police said.

"These two swung their car around and began firing," said Police Chief of Department Louis Anemone.
Police fired four shots back and the men fled, speeding out of the market and onto the Grand Concourse.
The suspects raced north for nearly 20 blocks, then headed east, where they crashed into two parked cars at E. 172d St. and Fulton Ave. in the Tremont section.
Police pursued the suspects through traffic on the busy thoroughfare, dodging bullets as they drove.
After crashing, the suspects unleashed a barrage of gunfire at cops, shooting through their windshield, witnesses said.
Police fired a total of 37 rounds at the suspects. One man, in his 20s, was dead at the scene. The other was rushed to Lincoln Hospital.
The unidentified dead suspect was still lying on the street early this morning as police crime scene investigators scoured the area.
The three guns and several rounds of ammunition were found in the crashed car.
"This was a gun battle on the perpetrators' part from the beginning to end," said Anemone. "We have the shell casings taking us throughout the Bronx, leading us back to the terminal market."
Four police officers and one DEA officer were treated for trauma after the shootout.
A fifth cop suffered cuts from a bottle thrown from a roof by a suspect unrelated to the drug bust, police said.
The shooting, outside an apartment building, left neighbors terrified.
Two bystanders were treated for minor injuries. One was hurt by flying glass.
Responding to horrified onlookers who saw the shooting, Anemone said, "People like this [the gunmen] show absolutely no concern for the residents of the area."
"This was a violent drug gang that was being investigated for a series of shootings, homicides and drug deals here in the Bronx," he added.

61 Arrested in Drug Raids at South Bronx Tenements

In raids that officials said dismantled 12 violent drug gangs, nearly 600 police officers, F.B.I. agents and other investigators fanned out across a troubled housing development early yesterday morning to break up a criminal network that had established a stubborn hold on the South Bronx.
The raids, which resulted in the arrests of 61 people, were the culmination of a three-month investigation in which 35 others had been arrested earlier. The investigation was financed by a $107,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which sought to reclaim the Jose de Diego-Beekman Houses, a crime-ridden complex of 38 renovated tenement buildings, from the heroin and crack dealers that the police said had established headquarters there.
The 12 gangs that were dismantled -- which had names like the Simon and Simon Gang, the American Express Gang and Conga's Gang -- sold about $100,000 worth of drugs a day and were responsible for at least 18 murders since 1989, Police Commissioner Howard Safir said. He and other law enforcement officials said they hoped that the raids, by breaking up so many gangs in one swoop, would have a lasting effect in a housing complex and a neighborhood that have seen more than their share of drug-related violence.

For years, drug traffickers have been drawn to the Diego-Beekman complex, a group of red- and yellow-brick tenement houses that stretches from 138th Street to 143d Street in Mott Haven. On those streets the Wild Cowboys gang, who the police said were responsible for 10 murders, dealt in drugs and terror during the early 1990's. And as soon as the police broke up the Wild Cowboys, other, smaller gangs filled the vacuum and continued selling drugs.
Inspector Jose Cordero, the commanding officer of the 40th Precinct, said the houses suited drug dealers' needs because they were convenient to major roads and bridges, making them easy to reach from Manhattan, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut, and because the old tenements, with shared roofs and adjoining yards, allowed easy entrances and exits.
''Over time, the gangs become bigger and more comfortable, and began networking like businesses,'' Inspector Cordero said.
The police also closed several storefront businesses yesterday, including Llamadas Internacionales, at 138th Street and Brown Place, whose yellow and green sign advertises international calling, beeper services, money orders and insurance. The police said it also did a brisk business in drugs.

"Treyside Bloods" Cops Apprehend 28 In Big Bx. Drug Bust (Friday, November 11, 2005)

COPS SMASHED a violent drug gang whose cutthroat members wore customized football jerseys and raked in $1.5 million a year by terrorizing a sprawling Bronx housing complex, authorities said yesterday.
Undercover cops and prosecutors busted 28 alleged members of the "Treyside Bloods" and charged them with peddling crack, heroin and marijuana at the Diego-Beekman Houses for at least a year.
"The entire operation - from the boss to street dealers - was removed in one day," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
The dealers - who wore belt buckles emblazed "Treyside" - allegedly took their orders from Dwayne (Dime) Thompson, 31, who ordered them to use violence to rule their Mott Haven turf.

The gangbangers have been linked to a double shooting and a stabbing, said NYPD Capt. Rick Miller, commander of the Bronx gang squad.
Cops began investigating the gang after a spate of shootings in the summer of 2004. Using wiretaps and video surveillance, detectives made more than 30 drug buys before the raids Tuesday night.
The suspects were arraigned Wednesday on charges of conspiracy to sell drugs and other crimes, authorities said.
"Maybe now the block will be settled," said a Bronx mother of two who was too afraid to give her name. "You can only hope."
The Diego-Beekman Houses have been plagued by drugs for years. In 1996, cops busted drug gangs that were doing $100,000 a day in business.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the complex was overrun by the Wild Cowboys - a brutal drug gang that peddled crack in Washington Heights and the South Bronx.

DIEGO BEEKMAN/MILLBROOK HOUSES – Four Indicted Defendants Over 50

NEW YORK CITY SPECIAL NARCOTICS PROSECUTOR BRIDGET G. BRENNAN ANNOUNCED today the indictment of 12 people – including a 69-year-old man and his grandson - charged with heroin and crack sales at the Diego Beekman Houses and the Millbrook Houses in the Bronx.  This brings to 29 the total number of individuals indicted and arrested for narcotics crimes as a result of three separate enforcement operations at city housing complexes during in past two weeks.  All the investigations were conducted in conjunction with the Narcotics Division and Housing Bureau of the New York City Police Department.
DIEGO BEEKMAN/MILLBROOK HOUSES – Four Indicted Defendants Over 50

Beginning in the early hours of Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 officers from NYPD’s Bronx Borough Narcotics arrested 12 individuals on indictments issued by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. During the investigation, which began in May 1, 2008, undercover officers purchased $4500 worth of heroin from 69-year old Carlos Camacho and his grandson Cesar Quinones, 28 years old.  Both reside in the Millbrook Houses, a New York City Housing Authority complex comprising nine 16-story buildings with 1,255 apartments and an estimated 3,026 residents.  During the execution of search warrants early this morning, police recovered 360 heroin glassines, as well as $23,000 in cash from inside Carlos Camacho’s apartment. In addition to Camacho and Quinones, ten other defendants were indicted for heroin and crack/cocaine sales.
Four of the indicted defendants are age 50 or older, and all are charged with repeated sales of narcotics.

The Bronx Millbrook Houses, a New York City Housing Authority complex, is located between Brook and Cypress Avenues from 135th Street to 137th Avenues. The Diego Beekman units are a private, 38-building complex with 1,238 apartments and 10 commercial units in a six block area that stretches from 138th Street to 143d Street. The investigation started in Diego Beekman and spread to the adjacent Millbrook Houses.

In total, undercover officers purchased heroin or crack on 48 different occasions. On September 16, 2008 officers purchased a .22 caliber revolver from defendant Arthur North who is 50 years old. The defendants are being arraigned today on the indictments before Judge Michael Ambrecht at Part 21, 111 Centre Street in Manhattan. 
MURPHY HOUSES – Ten Dealers Arrested and Prostitution Site Padlocked
Earlier this week, on Monday, December 11, 2008, ten drug dealers were arrested and a house of prostitution shuttered in Operation Cross Bronx Crackdown, a joint investigation conducted by the NYPD Bronx Narcotics Division and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor at the Murphy Houses.  Community complaints triggered the investigation which began a year ago and resulted in 60 undercover purchases of crack cocaine from individual dealers, many of whom are residents of Murphy Houses.  The complex is located at 1805 Crotona Avenue and 611 Crotona Park North in the South Bronx.  It consists of two 20-story buildings, 281 apartments, and houses approximately 714 people. 
One of those arrested, Prince Fahie, Jr., was a volunteer member of tenant patrol at the Murphy Houses, and sold crack to an undercover officer on six occasions. A search warrant of his apartment at the Murphy Houses recovered over 30 ziplock bags of crack in his bedroom.  Another Murphy Houses resident, Cerone Brown, was arrested and charged with three narcotics sales and possessing a loaded .9 mm semi-automatic weapon, and a loaded .22 Derringer firearm recovered in search warrants.
Compounding problems at the Murphy Houses were ongoing drug and prostitution at 1822 Crotona Avenue, a private three story residential building less than a half block away. The investigation revealed that substance abusers leaving the Murphy Houses paid a nominal fee to use 1822 Crotona Avenue to smoke crack/cocaine.  Prostitutes were also allowed to loiter inside of the residence. On December 11, 2008, in conjunction with NYPD Nuisance Abatement, 1822 Crotona Avenue was declared a nuisance and boarded up by a judicial order.
JOHNSON HOUSES – Three Drug Dealing Rings Shut Down
A long-term investigation with Manhattan North Narcotics into three cocaine, crack/cocaine and heroin groups selling narcotics in the Johnson Houses in Manhattan between 112th and 115th streets also ended on December 11, 2008 with the arrest of six individuals on indictments obtained by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. The defendants were all charged with felony narcotics crimes. 
Arrested were: Adam Mitchell, the leader of one crew; Devon Hawkins, heading another operation; and Naijee Garnett, Won Ambrose. Timothy Smart and his uncle Shadell Smart oversaw another group. The Smarts were indicted on two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, an AII felony and two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree.  They were also charged with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree for selling more than two ounces of cocaine on the day of the takedown. Undercover officers purchased $3,200 worth of powdered cocaine from Timothy and Shadell Smart during the course of the investigation.  Police estimate that all crews were selling about 400 grams of powdered cocaine on a weekly basis, netting about $40,000 per month. 
Defendants Arrested on Special Narcotics Indictments

DIEGO BEEKMAN/MILLBROOK HOUSES/BRONX

1. Arthur North, age 50, 520 E 137 Street  Apt. 4B  Bronx, NY
Charges: Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance (CSCS) 2nd Degree (1 count); CSCS 3rd Degree (12 counts); Criminal Sale of a firearm in the 3rd Degree (1 count)
2. Carlos Camacho, Age 69, 520 E 137 Street Apt 1A  Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS 2nd Degree, (3 counts); CSCS 3rd Degree
3. Cesar Quinones, age 28, 520 E 137 Street, Apt 1A  Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS 2nd Degree, (3 counts); CSCS 3rd Degree (7 counts)
4. Clevester Hemphill,  age 50, 369 Edgecomb Ave, Basement Apt.  Manhattan
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (2 counts)
5. Herminio Robles, age 25, 120 Benchley Place, Apt 33L  Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (2 counts); Criminal Facilitation in the 4th Degree
6. Javon Crawford, age 23, 164 St. Anns Avenue, Apt. 16A, Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (2 counts)
7. Joe Hedges, age 26, 674 E. 138 Street, Apt. 1A, Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree
8. Joshua Jones, age 24, 169 Cypress Avenue, Apt. 7H, Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (2 counts)
9. Justin Wildman, age 17, 283 Cypress Avenue, Apt. 5H, Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (4 counts); Criminal Sale of Marijuana in the 5th Degree
10.Trevor Robinson, age 18, 512 E. 145 Street, Apt 5B, Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (4 counts)
11.Tyrone Davis, age 32, 165 St. Anns Avenue, Apt. 10B, Bronx, NY&address)
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (2 counts)
12. Wilfredo Sinceno, age 63, 530 E. 137 Street, Apt. 7A, Bronx, NY
 Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (7 counts); Criminal Sale Marijuana 5th Degree
MURPHY HOUSES/BRONX
1 John Lazarchek, age 47, 1805 Crotona Avenue, Apt. 5F
 Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree  (7 counts)
2. Quentin Hough, age 25, 1805 Crotona Avenue, Apt. 8F
 Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree  ( 7counts)
3. Hunter Princesequ, age 22,  1805 Crotona Avenue, Apt 8E
 Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree  (12 counts)
4. Clarence Harris, age 25, 765 E. 175th Street, Apt 5G
 Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree  ( 3 counts)
5. Cerone Brown, age 26, 1805 Crotona Avenue, Apt. 3F
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (3 counts)
6. Jeffrey Harris, age 31, 611 Crotona Park North, Apt. 3F
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (3 counts)
7. Prince Fahie, age 31, 1805 Crotona Avenue, Apt. 14B
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (6 counts)
8. Jamal Hunter, age 34, 1805 Crotona Avenue, Apt. 8E
Charges: CPCS 3rd Degree (1 count)
9. Sahara Keese, age 18, 1805 Crotona Avenue, Apt. 8E
Charges: CPCS 3rd Degree (1 count)
10. Gregory Simms, age 43, 1822 Crotona Avenue
Charges: Conspiracy 4th Degree
JOHNSON HOUSES/MANHATTAN
1. Shadell Smart, age 34, 105 Nostrand Avenue, Apt 5B Brooklyn, NY
Charges: CSCS in the 2nd Degree (2 counts); CSCS 3rd Degree (2 counts)
2. Timothy Smart, age 25, 1025 Ward Avenue, Apt 2R Bronx, NY
Charges: CSCS in the 2nd Degree (2 counts); CSCS 3rd Degree (2 counts)
3. Naijee Garnett, age 20, 1830 Lexington Avenue, Apt. 6E New York, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (2 counts)
4.  Adam Mitchell, age 29, 1840 Lexington Avenue, Apt. 7E New York, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (6 counts)
5. Won Ambrose, age 23, 1830 Lexington Avenue, Apt. 6E New York, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree
6. Devon Hawkins, age 24, 1830 Lexington Avenue, Apt. 9B, New York, NY
Charges: CSCS 3rd Degree (1 count)

Amar'e Stoudemire obviously hurt and Carmelo Anthony absent as Celtics cruise past Knicks in Game 3

Amar'e Stoudemire lifted his jersey late in the third quarter and showed everyone his back brace, which wasn't really necessary because who didn't know he'd have to take the Garden court with back spasms?
If he did it to remind everyone what he was playing with, then that was Stoudemire's only misstep of the night.
He played hurt. He did next to nothing. His teammates, starting with Carmelo Anthony, did even less.
Once the beat-down was over and the Celtics had waltzed to a 113-96 win, the Garden crowd showered the Knicks with boos, every one of them richly deserved.
Why Stoudemire was even on the floor for five minutes of the fourth quarter was a mystery. Mike D'Antoni should have had him sitting or back in the locker room getting another round of treatment.
Stoudemire looked about 50% in scoring only two baskets in 32 minutes.
"The guy has been on a bed for two days and I just marvel that he got out and he wanted to play," D'Antoni said. "He was upset. His heart is in a great place. He gave us everything he got. His body is a little bit dead but I expect him to be ready (Sunday)."
It's amazing that with Stoudemire obviously a physical wreck, Melo was content to look to set up teammates. This wasn't the night to be a facilitator. This was a night to be Bernard King again.
Afterward, Anthony admitted that he saw that Stoudemire was obviously hurting.
"For him to come out there and give it a try, I respect that," he said. "He gave us what he could. Nobody expected him to go out there and be a superhero."
But everyone did think that Anthony would at least try to be Superman and lead the Knicks to their first playoff win in 10 years.
He proved them wrong. Anthony did get off 16 shots, but this was a night he needed to shoot the ball 36 times. This was a night when he needed to try to do at the Garden what he did in Boston in Game 2.
But most of the night, it was as if Melo wasn't even on the court. The Garden crowd loves to chant "Me-lo, Me-lo." It didn't do it once.
Before Anthony's disappearing act, the Celtics took the crowd out of the game by running off to a 22-5 lead.
"We're in New York," Kevin Garnett said. "It's the playoffs. It's their first time at home. It's a hostile environment. The New York crowd is a tough crowd. So we were locked in more than usual."
Meanwhile, Anthony was nowhere to be found. He ended the game with five turnovers and four baskets, a terrible ratio any way you look at it. In three days, he went from superstar to nonfactor, finishing with 27 fewer points than his 42-point epic performance.

Girl, 10, Is Killed and Teenager Hurt as Dispute Leads to Gunfire at Barbecue (Published: September 7, 2005)

Naiesha Pearson, 10, was fatally shot at a neighborhood barbecue.

Jose Cintron was comforted by his nephew Joshua Tuesday, after his daughter Naiesha Pearson was killed in Mott Haven, the Bronx. Another victim, Leonardo DeAnza, 19, underwent nearly 11 hours of surgery.
It was an annual tradition that most everyone in the Bronx neighborhood had eagerly awaited: the end-of-summer barbecue, when neighbors pooled their money to buy shrimp, lobsters and steaks.

The barbecue, at the Saw Mill Playground in Mott Haven on Monday, began like any other: The adults grilled, the teenagers flirted, the children played. But it ended abruptly just before 9 p.m. when a dispute led to a shooting that killed Naiesha Pearson, 10, and seriously injured Leonardo DeAnza, 19.
Residents of the blocks between East 137th and 140th Street, near Brook Avenue, had raised $500 for the barbecue, said Hilda Alvarez, 45, a godmother to both Naiesha and Mr. DeAnza. Yesterday, they were collecting money again - this time to pay for Naiesha's funeral.
Along with offering condolences, many residents vowed to serve "justice" to the man responsible for Naiesha's death. Rene Bonilla, 20, of East 137th Street was arrested early yesterday in the shooting.
"It's never good to say, 'An eye for an eye,' but you got to say it," said one of Naiesha's aunts, Elaine Cintron, 28. "We're very angry."
Throughout the day, dozens of neighbors stopped at the fence around the playground, a few feet from where Naiesha and Mr. DeAnza were shot, to hang balloons, bouquets and stuffed animals, and to write condolences on a white sign that read, "R.I.P. Na-Na."
About 50 tall glass candles lay near the feet of Ms. Alvarez, who sat near a small bench where residents slipped dollar bills into a green tin can and a plastic container. "We have our ups and downs, but the community comes together," Ms. Alvarez said, as tears streamed down from behind her black sunglasses.
The police said Naiesha's death was the sixth homicide this year in the 40th Precinct. Many residents said things have improved dramatically in the past decade.
"It used to be a real rough place," said Felix Colon, 47, who was raised in the neighborhood. "I hope this doesn't mean that it's going back to the way it was."
Miguel Montalvo, 16, said that he lived in Mr. Bonilla's apartment building and that on Monday, he saw Mr. Bonilla walk up to Mr. DeAnza, who was standing in front of the playground, and demand that Mr. DeAnza return his phone.
"He said, 'Give me my phone, or we'll have problems,' " Mr. Montalvo recalled. They argued briefly, and Mr. Bonilla left. When he returned, Mr. Montalvo said, he shot at Mr. DeAnza, but hit Naiesha. Mr. DeAnza tried to shield the girl, but fell after he was also shot, witnesses said.
Mr. DeAnza was shot three more times as he lay on the ground, Ms. Alvarez said, adding that the bullets punctured his liver, kidneys, and bladder. He underwent nearly 11 hours of surgery at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, she said. He was listed in stable condition late last night.
Michelle Sandel, 26, said she heard shots and rushed to grab Naiesha, who was rocking back and forth, saying: "It scared me. It scared me."
"I grabbed her, and she took two steps and collapsed," she said. "When she turned, that's when I saw the blood." Naiesha died later at the hospital.
A group of about 10 to 15 young men, including Mr. Montalvo, chased the gunman, who ran into a building on 138th Street, witnesses said. "Everybody was fighting, everybody was going crazy," Mr. Montalvo said.
Mr. Bonilla, who suffered a spinal injury on a fire escape before his arrest, was taken to Jacobi Medical Center and was expected to be arraigned there today or tomorrow on charges including second-degree murder and attempted murder, the law enforcement officials said.
Mr. Bonilla did not have any prior arrests, the police said.
Naiesha's mother, Taisha Pearson, declined to speak to reporters. Her father, Jose Cintron, 30, said his daughter, who was about to enter the fifth grade at Public School 65, doted on her three brothers and her 3-month-old sister.
Yesterday morning, Mr. Cintron knelt to the ground and beat it with his fist as he shouted through tears, "He's going to die." A few minutes later, he kissed a photograph of his daughter that was hanging on the fence and whispered softly, promising to "shed his blood."
But by the afternoon, his tone had changed. Mr. Cintron told reporters calmly that his daughter would not want him or anyone else to retaliate.
"Why, so someone else can mourn like me?" he asked.

HANDS DOWN PUN IS THE BEST RAPPER IN THE BRONX

Christopher Carlos Rios[1] (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was a Puerto Rican rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s. He first appeared on albums from The Beatnuts, on the track "Off the Books" in 1997, and on Fat Joe's second album Jealous One's Envy in 1995, on the track "Watch Out", prior to signing to Loud Records as a solo artist. Big Pun died of a heart attack at age 28.

Death

Excluding his adolescence, Big Pun struggled with his weight for most of his life; his weight fluctuated in the early 1990s between obese and morbidly obese. Big Pun enrolled in a weight-loss program in North Carolina, in which he lost 80 pounds (36 kg), but he eventually quit the program before completing it, returning to New York and gaining back the weight he had lost.[3] On February 7, 2000, Big Pun suffered a fatal heart attack and respiratory failure while temporarily staying with family at a Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains, New York during a home renovation. Pun was pronounced dead at the hospital after paramedics could not revive him. Big Pun was at his highest weight at the time of his death, being 693 pounds (314 kg).[4]

Legacy

Big Pun: The Legacy documentary

A tribute documentary Big Pun: The Legacy was released on September 15, 2009. The film contains multiple interviews with artists, actors, close friends and others whose lives were touched by Big Pun, as well as rare exclusive performances and scene interviews with Big Pun himself. The film also features appearances by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Snoop Dogg, DMX, Method Man, U-God, Liza Rios, Xzibit, Cuban Link, Swizz Beatz, DJ Skribble, Chino XL and many more. Film is directed by Vladimir "DJ Vlad" Yudin. It is distributed through Vivendi Universal and The Soundtrack is released through Legacy/Columbia Records, Sony Music.