37 Alleged Harlem Gang Members Indicted: Officials

Photo: Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance announcing the indictments on Thursday. Photo by John V. Santore

HARLEM, MANHATTAN — Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced a litany of charges Thursday against 37 alleged Harlem gang members collectively linked to numerous shootings, including the 2015 deaths of 18-year-old Jordan Barber and NYPD detective Randolph Holder.

A total of 20 of those accused were part of the "East Army" gang, otherwise known as "The Ryders," based out of East Harlem, Vance said, while the other 17 were part of the "600/Gutta Gang," a conglomeration of organized groups based in West Harlem.

Vance said 35 out of the 37 charged were arrested this week.

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From 2014 on, the gangs spent years targeting each others' members with illegal guns and ammunition, according to the DA.

The gangs' violence was retaliatory, Vance said, and would "enhance the social status" of gang members.

Demetrius Washington, 26, one of the Gutta Gang members hit with new charges by the DA, was previously indicted in August 2015 for the murder of 18-year-old Jordan Barber.

On June 29 of that year, Washington allegedly fired into a crowd outside the Entertainers Basketball Classic at Rucker Park in Harlem, fatally striking his victim in the neck, as reported by DNAinfo.

Furthermore, Vance tied four alleged East Army members to an Oct. 20, 2015 shootout with Tyrone Howard, who stands accused of subsequently killing NYPD Det. Randolph Holder near the FDR Drive.

Howard fled the scene of his initial confrontation, which took place near the intersection of First Avenue and 105th Street, before trading shots with responding officers, including Holder, Vance said.

As reported by The New York Times, during that second gun battle, Howard allegedly shot the detective in the head.

Howard's trial is ongoing. On Wednesday, an emergency room doctor who treated the defendant said Howard admitted to being under the influence of alcohol and drugs on the night of the shooting.

On Thursday, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said his department has made "a concerted effort to go after gangs in the city," blaming them for a disproportionate share of New York City's gun crimes and murders.

Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said gang members had been linked to 81 shootings so far this year and 11 homicides.

Vance also spoke of the need not just to remove gang members from their communities, but to "put something into the community" as well. To that end, he highlighted the $7.5 million his office has invested in Saturday Night Lights, a youth sports and academic program operating around Manhattan that Vance said has worked with 5,000 kids since 2011.

The DA added that law enforcement must track those returning home from prison so they can be connected to job training programs and other forms of support.

On Wednesday, Bratton had joined Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson to announce the indictment of three alleged Brooklyn gang members tied to the 2015 shooting death of Carey Gabay, a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

At that event, the commissioner had shown little sympathy for those arrested.

"We'll never be able to get into the heads of these young men, because they are mindless," he said.

On Thursday, Patch asked Bratton about his comments, in light of Vance's talk of finding ways to divert youth from the danger of gangs.

"I support fully the idea of trying to prevent young people from going into this life," Bratton said, describing a focus on intercepting dangerous behavior early as "broken windows" policing.

However, the commissioner repeated his assertion that gang crimes are often "mindless," adding that, "some of these people, they're beyond changing their lifestyle" without serious intervention, such as "prison."