Eight members of the “30 Block” gang have been arrested and indicted on a litany of crimes in the city, including two innocent bystander shootings in the Bronx, a string of robberies targeting NYC rideshare drivers and fraudulently acquiring more than $300,000 in federal pandemic relief, Bronx and Manhattan district attorneys jointly announced today.
In the Bronx, eight defendants affiliated with the 30 Block gang are being charged with 155 counts including the attempted murder plots which led to the shootings of a 39-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman, both bystanders, in the Eastchester and Wakefield sections of the Bronx, respectively.
According to the investigation conducted by Bronx County District Attorney Darcel Clark, a Democrat, 22-year-old Akeyele Baker and 21-year-olds Daijon Crawford, Zykeith Fearon an d Aaron Heredia communicated a plan to shoot a rival gang member through an unidentified social media app.
On Sept. 21, 2020, 30 Block members approached their intended target at On The Road Auto Group car dealership on Boston Road and fired multiple shots. A 39-year-old man — who was at the dealership with his three children — was caught in the crossfire and struck three times while trying to shield his children.
The man survived the shooting, however, he still has a bullet remain in his thigh, according to the district attorney’s report.
A second incident involving Delroy Salmon, 21, occurred on East 224th Street when he, along with other gang members, opened fire on a rival gang member, but instead struck a 52-year-old female bystander.
According to reports, the woman survived the incident but has suffered a “life-altering” injury.
In addition to the arrests, law enforcement seized five guns and two large-capacity magazines in connection with the Bronx case.
During a briefing regarding the case on Tuesday, Clark said she would not allow gang members to destroy the Bronx “bullet by bullet.”
“My Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau then conducted an investigation and tied the gang to the shootout in a car dealership where a father was wounded while protecting his kids, and to a shooting on the street targeting rival gang members that instead wounded a 52-year-old woman for life,” Clark said. “With our law enforcement partners, I will not let people destroy the Bronx bullet by bullet.”
In total, the defendants in the Bronx case were arraigned last week and are charged with second-degree conspiracy, attempted murder in the second degree, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree criminal possession along with possession drug charges.
In Manhattan, five members are being indicted for a pattern of rideshare robberies and financial fraud that resulted in gang members allegedly receiving more than $300,000 of state unemployment funds designated for pandemic relief.
According to the Manhattan DA’s investigation from April 2020 to May 2020, five 30 Block members allegedly stole an estimated $6,500 from Lyft and Uber drivers in the city, in a scheme that targeted nearly 50 drivers.
According to the report, the defendants allegedly set the pickup and drop-off destinations at the same address. When the rideshare driver would notice the discrepancy, members would allegedly ask to use his phone to call a friend and instead transfer the drivers’ in-app earnings to their own personal bank accounts using debit cards and mobile banking apps like Cash App.
Additionally, from May 2020 to September 2020, five defendants allegedly used stolen identities to secure more than $300,000 in pandemic-related unemployment funds from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Three defendants were able to secure roughly $50,000 in unemployment from New York State.
