More than a dozen south Brooklyn gangbangers were nabbed in a sweeping bust for their alleged roles in 19 shootings that left nine people wounded and killed a rival gang member in Sheepshead Bay.
Authorities slapped the 14 defendants — all alleged members of the 59 Brims and Bloodhound Brims street gangs — with murder, attempted murder and conspiracy charges for the alleged crimes, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“These defendants allegedly carried out 19 separate shootings, murdered a rival, and wounded innocent bystanders — lawlessly endangering our communities,” Gonzalez said in a Wednesday statement, adding that the suspects were responsible for a “staggering level of violence in Coney Island and Sheepshead Bay.”
The arrests came after a two-year-long investigation by the DA’s Violent Crime Enterprises Bureau and the NYPD’s Gun Violence Suppression Division that eventually brought down the two affiliated sets of Bloods, the release said.
“It’s part of an ongoing war between rival street gangs based primarily in Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island — a war that has terrorized Brooklyn neighborhoods for years,” Tisch said at a Wednesday press conference in which authorities showed off the 17 pistols they seized during the operation.
The 14 suspects — Davonte Manson, 23; Karon Evans, 21; Timothy Briggs, 22; Antoine Favorite, 20; Jaquell Scales, 21; Omogoriola Omotosho, 21; Omarion Harvey, 21; Logan Cadore, 20; Jordan Thomas, 30; Jermel Solise, 18; Tashawn Ware, 19; Ron Thomas, 22; Rashiem Brown, 16; and Albiero Garcia, 15 — all hail from Brooklyn.
The investigation centered on a series of violent crimes that began in early 2021 and quickly escalated into a full-on gang war after Bloodhound Brim member Davonte Lewis was killed outside his Midwood high school in April of that year.
Three days after Lewis’ death, Evans and several others crossed into territory claimed by the rival Folk Nation gang near 3405 Foster Avenue and shot a rival gangbanger several times in the stomach, authorities said.
The victim lived but suffered a lacerated liver.
A year later, in February 2022, Omotosho and a compatriot followed a rival hood to 2926 West 25th Street and fired handgun rounds into the lobby — which was filled with residents.
No one was hit, but the terrifying incident forced locals to duck for cover.
A similar shooting happened near West 25th Street and Mermaid Avenue on May 29, 2022, sparking a gun battle that miraculously didn’t hurt anyone.
But the missed opportunity led to a text message scolding from other gang members, who criticized the shooters for not putting their targets in “critical condition” like they were supposed to.
An October shooting by Ware and another triggerman in Sheepshead Bay left a man with a bullet wound in the arm, while a Halloween shooting a few weeks later at the Nostrand Houses by Ware and Ron Thomas left Folk gang member Jamel Nicholson dead and his girlfriend in critical condition.
The following June, Omotosho was visiting a Bay Ridge sneaker store when he spotted rival Folk gang members inside.
He waited for them to leave, then pulled his handgun and opened fire — hitting two innocent bystanders, the release said.
The suspects were arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justices Danny Chun and Craig Walker on the 129-count indictment, which charged them with second-degree murder, second- and fourth-degree conspiracy and second-degree attempted murder, among other things.
“Today’s takedown highlights the NYPD’s relentless fight against dangerous street gangs that terrorize our neighborhoods with gun violence,” Tisch said.
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