MS-13 Member Wanted For Suffolk Gang Assault; $5K Reward Offered: PD

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — A man accused of being a member of MS-13 who, Suffolk prosecutors said, was involved in the gang assault of a 15-year-old boy is wanted, and $5K is being offered for information that leads to his arrest, the Suffolk County Police Department announced.

Josue Zepeda Padilla, 26, of Huntington Station, is one of seven alleged members and associates of the Huntington Criminal Locates Salvatrucha or "HCLS" clique of the MS-13 street gang who robbed, kidnapped and assaulted a teenager in January, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said. The other six, including a minor, were apprehended in January, but Zepeda Padilla remains at large, officials said.

The boy was attacked on Jan. 6, authorities said.

On the morning of Jan. 6, the 15-year-old boy was lured to the Huntington Train Station by a minor, officials said. While at the train station, five of seven co-defendants, Zepeda Padilla, Brayan Jimenez Avila, Yeison Chavez Campos, Maycoll Ramirez Cerrato, and Marcos Serpos, displayed a knife while surrounding the teenager, the DA said. They stole his money and property and took turns punching and kicking him, prosecutors said.

The five then forced the boy into a car driven by Maybelline Garcia Cornejo, who then drove the teenager and the five others to the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, investigators said. While on way to Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, one of the defendants forcefully took the boy's cellphone, prosecutors said.

Once the gang and teenager arrived on the grounds of the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, the gang forced the boy to climb through a hole in the wall of an abandoned building, authorities said. While inside, each of the men then punched, kicked, and beat the victim, officials said. During the assault, Zepeda Padilla stabbed the teen in the neck, causing a cut that required stitches to close, prosecutors said. One of the men then hit the boy on the head with a hard object believed to be a rock, knocking the victim unconscious and fracturing his skull, the DA said.

When the teenager regained consciousness, he found a way out of the building and walked down the road until he collapsed, only to be found by someone passing by, investigators said. The boy required surgery, including a craniotomy, to treat the brain bleed and fractured skull, officials said.

Zepeda Padilla; Jimenez Avila, 23, of Amityville and Huntington Station; Chavez Campos, 21, of Huntington Station; Ramirez Cerrato, 18, of Huntington Station; Serpos, 19, of Huntington Station; and Garcia Corenjo, 22, of Seaford, were each indicted on one count of first-degree robbery; one count of first-degree gang assault; one count of first-degree assault; one count of second-degree kidnapping; one count of first-degree attempted assault; one count of second-degree gang assault; three counts of second-degree robbery; and two counts of second-degree assault.

The minor who lured the teenager was indicted for one count of first-degree robbery; two counts of second-degree robbery; and one count of fourth-degree criminal facilitation.

Anyone with information regarding Zepeda Padilla's whereabouts were asked to contact the Suffolk County Police Department or Crime Stoppers at: 1-800-220-TIPS.