Eight Charged, Including Five Teenagers, In Lafayette Gardens Area Gun Trafficking

Eight people were arrested yesterday following a 10-month long investigation into firearms trafficking around Lafayette Gardens (bounded by Lafayette Avenue, Classon Avenue, Dekalb Avenue, and Franklin Avenue), says the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.

The office says the investigation yielded the sales of 30 operable guns, and “included undercover police officers making multiple purchases of weapons, ranging in price from $600 for a Charter Arms Undercover .38 caliber revolver to $800 for a Hi-Point C9 9mm handgun to $1,100 for a Walther PK .380 caliber handgun… often in broad daylight…”

The DA says that 33-year-old Shamel Rawlinson, 29-year-old Jamal Curry, 23-year-old Alexandria Chisolm, 18-year old Starsha Risher, 17-year-olds Yamil Torres and Angelique Jiles, and 16-year-old Ron Brooks “are variously charged” with criminal sale of a firearm in the first, second, and third degrees, with the harshest penalties up to 25 years in prison; as well as second degree criminal possession of a weapon, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

19-year-old Cruz is–who is charged in connection with 25 sales–reportedly the top defendant in the case, and could see up to 25 years in prison for allegedly enlisting the younger defendants to deliver guns. DA Kenneth Thompson notes that despite the youth of certain defendants, his office plans to “hold them accountable” for their actions. The investigation is ongoing, with more arrests expected.