Four Arrested In Clinton Hill Raid

Police arrested four people at 42 Clifton Place in Clinton Hill on Thursday, March 2 for criminal possession of a firearm and marijuana.

Officers conducting a routine patrol of the area observed suspicious activity, according to a police report. At approximately 6am they searched 42 Clifton Place and a second building, police say. Police would not confirm the address of the second location but say a loaded semi-automatic firearm and an undetermined amount of marijuana were found on the premises.

Four people were arrested at the scene. Corey Watkins, 28, is scheduled back in court on Tuesday, March 7. The three other defendants have had charges against them temporarily suspended.

According to a Brownstoner article, the area surrounding Clinton Hill’s Clifton Place and Grand Avenue has been the center of criminal activity for years. In 2014 a local homeless man, Gilbert Kelly, was gunned down and killed on Grand between Gates and Putnam Avenues, and the former Clean Society Cleaners, located at 307 Grand Avenue, was shut down by police after the owner was shot there.