By Naeisha Rose
Several alleged members of the Wildmeda Crips Gang of Far Rockaway were arraigned last week on 52 counts of attempted murder, conspiracy, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal use of a weapon, Queens DA Richard Brown said.
The nine suspected gang members were accused of trying to shoot, intimidate or injure rivals from the 70Gs, SOS Bloods, Edgemere Bloods, Flammers and other gangs, according to the district attorney.
Police within the Violence Reduction Task Force of the Gun Violence Suppression Division were able to gather evidence against the crew by tracking phone conversations of incarcerated gang members and posts made on social media.
According to Brown, there were four separate instances when the Wildmeda Crips allegedly tried to murder rivals: June 2015, July 2015, December 2015 and July 2016.
The defendants were also accused of using code words on social media to coordinate hits on rivals, according to the DA.
The crew allegedly used code words like “spanked,” “popped his cherry,” “lit,” and “got busy,” as a referencing for shooting someone, the DA’s office said.
“Situation,” “jawn,” “thoty,” “whoopty” and the B-word were allegedly used as references for purchasing and using guns to off rivals.
“The defendants are accused of turning neighborhood streets into war zones by acting in concert with one another to carry out targeted hits on their enemies,” said Brown. “A long-term investigation, which included deciphering social media postings, allegedly uncovered four separate plots by members of the Wildmeda Crips to kill rival gang members.”
According to the DA’s office, the accused range in age from 20 to 29.
Tyrell Durham, Remon Newsom, Kamel Caldwell, Freddie Lawson, Dashawn Young, Kavaun Harper, Michael Brown, Matthew Llorente and a ninth unnamed person who is being sought could face 15 to 25 years in prison if convicted on the attempted murder, weapons and conspiracy charges.
Caldwell, 29, was accused of shooting a 70Gs gang member on June 1, 2015 and surveillance allegedly depicts him, Durham and a third co-conspirator firing guns at a SOS Bloods member on Dec. 16, 2015, the DA said. Brown allegedly shot and injured a Flammers gang member on July 11, 2015, prosecutors said.
Young and Lawson allegedly acted together on July 3, 2016 and shot a rival who later sustained life-threatening injuries and was in the hospital for critical condition.
The yearlong investigation of the Wildmeda crew started on July 2016.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
