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48°
Sunday, apr 28
Tag:
Gang Violence
Police & Fire
Paterson Pair Convicted In Ambush Killing Of Rival Gang Member From Newark
UPDATE: The mastermind behind the cold-blooded killing of a 21-year-old rival gang member from Newark during an ambush in Paterson was convicted of first-degree murder and one of his cronies of aggravated manslaughter on Friday. Jurors in Superior Court in Paterson needed only a day to reach guilty verdicts on Oct. 13 against Silk City residents Jaquan Thomas, 33, and Ismael Leon, 21, for gunning down Jose Figueroa. Authorities said the slaying was a “coordinated attack involving multiple shooters in multiple locations.” Thomas sent members of his gang to the area of Totowa and Redwood ave…
Police & Fire
H-Block Gang Member Found Guilty Of Double-Murder After Trenton Social Media Diss: Prosecutor
A Trenton man was found guilty by a jury in a double fatal shooting that stemmed from a gang being dissed on Facebook, authorities said. Tyzir Hamilton, 22, was convicted on all counts of the indictment on Thursday, Sept. 21, including two counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons offenses, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri. On Aug. 9, 2020, at approximately 7:30 a.m., patrol officers with the Trenton Police Department responded to Centre Street for a shooting. Police found the first victim, William Irizarry, 18, lying on the street.…
Police & Fire
3 Brick City Brims Get 100 Years Combined For Murdering Informant, Bystander, Rival Gangster
A trio of ruthless Essex County gang members who admitted gunning down a government informant after killing an innocent bystander they mistook for the snitch were sentenced to nearly 100 years combined in federal prison. There’s no parole in the federal prison system, which means the East Orange trio will all have to serve out their plea-bargained sentences: Thomas Zimmerman, 28, was sentenced to 37 years; Tyquan Daniels, 27, got 35 years; Ali Hill, 30, was sentenced to 25 years. That means Daniels and Zimmerman will both be pushing 65 when either tastes freedom again. Hill would be approa…
Police & Fire
Bloods Leader Killed In Trenton Shooting, Authorities Say
A reputed leader of the Bloods street gang was shot and killed in Trenton, authorities said. The Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Trenton police are investigating the fatal shooting on Friday, May 26, police said. Sharief Treadwell, 36, a self-described ‘four-star general” of the Trenton Gangsta Killa Bloods sect, died after being shot near Oakland and Hoffman streets, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office. The shooting came the same day it was announced that another Bloods leader had been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Tyree "Hellboy" Thomas,…
News
Social Media Feud Led To Easter Sunday Killing In Trenton: Prosecutor
Three men have been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting on Easter Sunday in Trenton, authorities said. An ongoing feud on social media led up to the shooting, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri. Joseph Fayson, 22, and Justin Malkin, 23, both of Trenton and Darrin Eutsey, 23, of Hamilton, were taken into custody on Monday, April 17, Onofri said. All three have been charged with first-degree murder and weapons offenses, he said. At approximately 6:56 p.m. on Sunday, April 9, Trenton police responded to a ShotSpotter notification reporting multiple…
News
NJ Woman's Killer Admits Stabbing Her To Death In Exchange For 30-Year Max Sentence
UPDATE: A Paterson gang member pleaded guilty to stabbing his new girlfriend to death in the Leonia apartment that she shared with her young daughter. Murder pleas are rare in Bergen County, where deals are often cut for just about every other charge. Nile “OG Cripp” Diakos, 36, nonetheless got a deal from prosecutors in the March 26, 2022 stabbing death of Alicia Arnone, 35. In exchange for his guilty plea, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said his office will seek a 30-year prison sentence for Diakos. Diakos was at the apartment with Arnone’s 13-year-old daughter when Leonia polic…
News
‘War Ready’: Armed NJ Heroin Dealer Sentenced To 19 Years Without Parole
UPDATE: A New Jersey drug dealer who once served state prison time is headed to a federal penitentiary for a plea-bargained 19 years without parole. Jakir “Jak” Taylor, 32, was a key figure in an alliance of two violent rival gangs who once dominated the heroin trade on Trenton’s north and west side neighborhoods, authorities said. He's also the last of 26 defendants swept up in a joint law enforcement operation that smashed that operation. Taylor and conspirator Jerome Roberts collected heroin bricks by the hundreds from David “Papi” Antonio that were sold in individual bags, authorities …
News
Member Of Paterson '230 Boys' Admits Selling Heroin-Laced Fentanyl That Killed User
A reputed member of a notorious Paterson street gang admitted in federal court in Newark on Wednesday that he sold fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a user. Authorities didn't identify the victim who they said died after ingesting drugs sold by Wyzier Peterson, 25. Peterson was among 17 reputed 230 Boys members charged in a coordinated heroin, fentanyl and cocaine trafficking case assembled in September 2019 by a strike force comprised of agents from the DEA, ATF and state, county and local law enforcement. One of them, Keith Brinkley, shot a Belleville man in Paterson and then fled to Geo…
News
7 Bounty Hunter Bloods Banged By Feds In NJ Gang War That's Left Four Dead, 10 Wounded
An ongoing gang war that has ignited gunfire during a funeral and outside a hospital has led to charges against seven reputed members of a New Jersey gang associated with the Bounty Hunter Bloods. Federal authorities used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law to secure a grand jury indictment charging the defendants with conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said Tuesday, Sept. 20. All seven are members or associates of the Bounty Hunter Bloods, which operated under the umbrella of neighborhood street gangs known as “Parkside” in Somerset and “The Ville” in N…
News
Feds: Major NJ Drug Trio Admits Killing Informant, Innocent Bystander, Among Others
A trio of ruthless Essex County gang members admitted their roles in a major drug operation responsible for gunning down a government informant -- following the murder of an innocent bystander who was mistakenly believed to be the snitch. In exchange for their pleas, Tyquan Daniels and Thomas Zimmerman, 27, face a minimum of 33 years in federal prison each, while Ali Hill, 29, is looking at a minimum of 20 years. There's no parole in the federal prison system, which means Daniels and Zimmerman would be turning 60 when either tastes freedom again. Hill would be nearing 50. Federal prosecuto…
News
Murderous East Coast MS-13 Leader From NJ Sentenced In MD To Life
A Jersey Shore MS-13 overlord who ran the gang’s East Coast operation was sentenced in Maryland to life in federal prison on Friday, April 1 for a “reign of terror” across several states, the U.S. Justice Department announced. Miguel Angel “Reaper” Corea Diaz, 41, of Long Branch, NJ will have to serve out the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The capture of Corea Diaz was “one of the biggest takedowns of a high-ranking MS-13 leader in the United States," a district attorney in Nassau County said after he was indicted on Long Island in December 2018. Corea Dia…
News
Detectives: NJ Woman's Killer Slipped Out, Circled Back After Daughter Woke
A Paterson gang member now charged with killing a Leonia woman in the garden apartment she shared with her daughter ran out when he heard the girl wake up, then circled back as if he was just arriving, investigators said. Nile Diakos, 35, was recorded on phone calls and in texts admitting that he killed Alicia Arnone by stabbing her in the neck and chest last Saturday, March 26, according to court papers. Authorities originally charged her former live-in boyfriend, Andrae Daniels of Lodi, with killing Arnone, 35. But new information emerged that led them to drop murder charges against him…
News
Murder
Shocker
: Ex-BF Cleared, Recent Lover Charged With Stabbing Leonia Woman To Death
UPDATE: A Paterson gang member now charged with killing a Leonia woman in the garden apartment she shared with her daughter ran out when he heard the girl wake up, then circled back as if he was just arriving, investigators said. Nile Diakos, 35, was recorded on phone calls and in texts admitting that he killed Alicia Arnone by stabbing her in the neck and chest last Saturday, March 26, according to court papers. Authorities originally charged her former live-in boyfriend, Andrae Daniels of Lodi, with killing Arnone, 35. But new information emerged that led them to drop murder charges aga…
News
US Marshal Justified In Killing Armed Fugitive In Paterson Wanted For Ex-GF's NYC Murder
A U.S. Marshal was justified in killing a fugitive ex-con who fired a shot at him and fellow officers in a Paterson apartment, a New Jersey grand jury has found. A loaded 9mm handgun was found near the body of Malik Canty after he was taken out by members of the U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force in a second-floor Hamilton Avenue apartment, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Canty, a 36-year-old Bloods gang member, was wanted by the NYPD for the brutal beating death of his sometimes-girlfriend on a Harlem street. Canty wasn’t in the front room…
News
Ex-BF Who Killed NJ Woman Ignored Final Order After 'Multiple' Incidents
UPDATE: A Paterson gang member now charged with killing a Leonia woman in the garden apartment she shared with her daughter ran out when he heard the girl wake up, then circled back as if he was just arriving, investigators said. Nile Diakos, 35, was recorded on phone calls and in texts admitting that he killed Alicia Arnone by stabbing her in the neck and chest last Saturday, March 26, according to court papers. Authorities originally charged her former live-in boyfriend, Andrae Daniels of Lodi, with killing Arnone, 35. But new information emerged that led them to drop murder charges aga…
Police & Fire
NJ Pair Charged In Fatal Shooting Of High School Senior -- An Unintended Victim: Prosecutor
One of two Burlington County men charged in the fatal shooting of a Willingboro high school senior, was also charged in the shooting of a woman and 2-year-old. The teenager was an unintended victim who was shot outside his home during a neighborhood dispute, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Willingboro Township Acting Public Safety Director Captain Ian Bucs. Sylas Young, 19, of the Sunbury Village section of Pemberton Township, was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy to commit murder first-degree gang criminality and weapons offenses, Co…
News
MS-13 Members Convicted Of Murder Of Innocent West New York Man, 19, Other Gang-Related Crimes
Three ranking MS-13 members from El Salvador were convicted by federal jurors in Newark of the murder of an innocent 19-year-old dishwasher from West New York, among other charges stemming from their participation in the international gang. It was one of many offenses that jurors agreed were committed by Juan Pablo “Humilde” Escalante-Melgar, 31, Elmer “Locote” Cruz-Diaz, 33, and Oscar “Snappy” Sanchez-Aguilar, 25 – among them, extortion, witness tampering, and drug trafficking. Federal prosecutors told the jurors that Escalante-Melgar and Sanchez-Aguilar instructed an MS-13 member and an …
News
PD: Female Dealer Busted Slinging Ecstacy On Notorious Paterson Corner
Paterson detectives nabbed a woman who they said was selling Ecstasy at one of the city's most notorious corners. The investigators watched Shantay Pittman, 35, sling MDMA at the corner of Broadway and East 18th Street before arresting her, city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. They stopped Pittman and found her carrying six bags and 43 vials of the drug, he said. The corner has been the scene of several shootings in recent years as rival gangs battle over the drug trade. Police have also reported violent robberies and prostitution arrests there, as well. Pittman, of East 19th …
News
FBI Makes Arrest In Jersey City Gang War
An ongoing gang war in Jersey City led to the arrest by federal authorities of a man accused in one shooting and implicated in another. Shamar Bey, 29, a reputed member of the SaLaf gang, opened fire at a gas station at Gates Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard after following a rival from Ocean and Neptune avenues on June 19, 2020, an FBI complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says. A city surveillance camera helped identify him, the FBI said. Less than 24 hours after that shooting, three people entered the Salem-Lafayette housing project -- where SaLaf operates -- and shot into a cr…
News
New Balance Sneakers Help ID NJ Murder Suspect Nabbed In Nebraska, Reports Say
A pair of New Balance sneakers helped identify a Trenton murder suspect, authorities said. Alleged gang member Luis Alfredo Carranza-Andrade, 20, of Northwest, Washington, D.C., was wanted in the fatal shooting of Javier Chaj-Ajtun, 33, of Trenton, last August. The fancy footwear -- apparently worn by the suspect at the time of the killing -- helped US Marshals to identify him when they tracked him down in Nebraska, according to NJ Advance Media. Eyewitnesses and area surveillance cameras combined to ID Carranza-Andrade as a suspect, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor's O…
News
Indictment: Latin Kingpin,10 Gang Members In NJ Prison ‘Hit Squad’ Targeted State Investigators
UPDATE: Members of a state prison “hit squad” who were already charged with beating a fellow inmate also attacked others while targeting investigators who got wise to them, an indictment returned by a New Jersey grand jury alleges. State prosecutors earlier this year charged Frank “Lafay” Blake, 33, of Hillside and eight inmates with an assault at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, as well as with plans to carry out another at Northern State Prison in Newark. An indictment returned in Trenton this week adds new assault charges against Blake -- the reputed leader of the Elizabeth chapter of…
News
Killer
Heroin
: 15 Members, Associates Of Violent 42-50 Paterson Drug Gang Indicted
Fifteen reputed members and associates of a violent gang that put 50,000 doses of lethal heroin and over two pounds of crack a week on the streets of Paterson were indicted by a state grand jury on Wednesday. The leaders, members and associates of the 42-50 subset of the Crips were slinging heroin connected to eight overdose deaths and 14 nonfatal ODs at open-air drug markets where shootings were common, state Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. The indictment returned Wednesday in Trenton names 15 defendants, including reputed ringleader Marvin Goodman, 30, who was wounded in a drive-by…
News
Dealer Caught With More Than 28 Pounds Of Coke Worth $720,500 In Passaic, Authorities Charge
A Paterson man was busted with more than 28 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $720,500 during a fugitive roundup, authorities announced Thursday. Tydel Clark, 31, was arrested following a warranted search of a Passaic city residence and his vehicle, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and U.S. Marshal for the District of New Jersey Juan Mattos Jr. said. The news came amid a joint announcement by both of an operation that they said produced 133 arrests and the seizure of guns and drugs. Authorities targeted active warrants and fugitive cases, most of them in Paterson, Valdes …
News
Feds Charge Reputed Jersey City Gang Member With Gunning Down Rival
Federal authorities have charged a reputed gang member from Jersey City with murder in the shooting death of a rival during a running feud between allied crews. Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig announced Tuesday that her office has taken over the prosecution of Phillip Wiggins Jr. of Newark for the March 31, 2020 slaying of Damone “Munch” Smith. Wiggins, 24, who investigators say belongs to the Wilkinson Avenue gang, shot Smith in the chest near the corner of Rose and Cator avenues. Smith, 25, was brought by private vehicle to Jersey City Medical Center, where he …
News
Passaic Sheriff's Officers Thwart Escape Attempt By Reputed Gang Member
A member of a violent gang blamed for flooding the streets with lethal heroin escaped from custody but was captured by Passaic County sheriff's officers, authorities said. It was shortly before 7:30 a.m. when reputed Crips member Andre White, 44, made a break for it while being treated for an undisclosed injury at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said. White was in custody awaiting trial following a major takedown by city and state authorities last fall of leaders, members and associates of the "42-50" subset of the Crips street gang in Paterson. The crew is…
News
NJ: State Prison ‘Hit Squad’ Run By Latin King Targeted Inmates, Corrections Investigators
Members of a state prison hit squad assembled by a Latin Kings leader beat one fellow inmate and were about to attack another when corrections officials got wind of their plans, New Jersey's top law enforcement officer said Thursday. Working from the outside, Frank “Lafay” Blake, 33, of Hillside recruited eight inmates for his shank-armed crew at various correctional facilities, including Northern State Prison in Newark and New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Blake, the reputed leader of the Elizabeth chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen…
Police & Fire
18 'H-Block' Gang Members Busted, $228K In Drugs Seized In Mercer County
An investigation involving more than a dozen law enforcement agencies in South Jersey and Pennsylvania has resulted in the arrest of 18 gang members and seizure of large quantities of heroin, methamphetamines and marijuana, authorities said. Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said on Thursday that the multi-jurisdictional investigation of narcotics distribution and violent crime resulted in recovering 11 guns, 1,000 grams of heroin, 1,000 grams of methamphetamine, 15 pounds of marijuana, six vehicles and more than $22,000 in cash. “Operation Eight-Ball was an enor…
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Teens Arrested In Gang-Related Shooting Death
Teenagers from Asbury Park, Howell and Lakewood have been arrested in connection with a gang-related shooting death, authorities said on Tuesday. Two of the teenagers face murder charges, they said. A Howell juvenile and an 18-year-old fugitive from Asbury Park were arrested in connection with a March 23 homicide at a home on DeWitt Avenue in Asbury Park, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. Jamir Styles, 20, of Asbury Park and the 16 year old juvenile from Howell were charged on Thursday with first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy&…
Police & Fire
Authorities Arrest Gang Members In Trenton Double-Homicide
Three men have been arrested in connection with a double homicide in Trenton in August, authorities said. Darnell Davis, 19, of Willingboro, Tyzir Hamilton, 19, of Trenton, and Treizon Thompson, 20, of Trenton, were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree conspiracy ad multiple weapons charges, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri. One of the shooting victims had dissed a gang on Facebook, Onofri said. “Now more than ever, we need the community to work with us,” Onofri said, "The help of the public in solv…
News
Two Charged In Cold-Blooded Executions Of Jersey City Rival, Pregnant Woman, Associate
Two members of the Jersey City Bloods are charged in the cold-blooded killings of a rival, his pregnant girlfriend and an associate who accompanied them on the murder mission, federal authorities announced Monday. Markell “Sayboy” Brown, 32, and Terence “Sweet Meat” Shaw, 32, used fellow street gang member Quadel Chisolm to gain access to the Fulton Street apartment of Ishear Bailey and his girlfriend, Janaya Lee, on Jan. 16, 2017, an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark charges. Brown and Shaw executed Bailey, 26, shooting him in the back of the head, the le…
Police & Fire
Major Dealer In Violent Trenton Drug Crew Headed To Fed Pen For Plea-Bargained 13 Years
A confessed member of a violent "war ready" Trenton drug-dealing crew must spend more than 13 years in federal prison for his role in a massive heroin trafficking operation. Omar “Stacks” Council, 41, is the latest of 23 defendants to take guilty pleas in exchange for leniency when he admitted participating in a trafficking network that flooded the streets of the state capital with heroin and other drugs amid shootouts with rival gang members Council -- also known as "Snow" and "Y-O" -- must serve out the entire 160-month plea-bargained sentence because there’s no parole in the federal pris…
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