13 Accused Gangsters Indicted For 'Bloody' Harlem Gang Feud: Prosecutors

HARLEM, NY — Thirteen men associated with allied Harlem street gangs "Fast Money" and "Nine Blocks" are facing charges for their role in a years-long "bloody feud with rival gangs in Harlem," prosecutors announced Thursday.

The members of "Fast Money," based out of the Polo Grounds Towers, and "Nine Blocks," based out of the Rangel Houses, were brought up on charges including conspiracy, murder, gang assault, robbery and criminal drug and weapons charges, prosecutors said.

"The numerous shootings, assaults, and robberies alleged in this indictment illustrate the deadly, downward spiral of retaliatory gang violence," Manhattan District Attorney Cryus Vance said in a statement. "No one was safe from the defendants’ attempts to exact revenge and assert their dominance, including innocent bystanders and NYCHA residents with no involvement in gang activity. Thanks to the NYPD and my Office’s prosecutors, we are stopping this bloody feud in its tracks.”"

Since 2015, the two gangs were locked in a deadly conflict with the “2 Deep” gang, based out of the Drew-Hamilton Houses, and the “OYG” gang, based out of Amsterdam Avenue between West 151st and West 160th streets. The "OYG" gang also operates in the AK Houses and Grant Houses, prosecutors said. Thirty-seven members of these gangs were indicted in June 2016.

The feud can be traced back to the fatal shooting of Jordan Barber in August 2015, prosecutors said. On the days surrounding what would have been Barber's 19th birthday, August 14 and 14 of 2016, "Fast Money" and "Nine Blocks" members engaged in a violent crime spree, prosecutors said. The spree included the fatal shooting of 41-year-old Dejon McInnis in Washington Heights. One of the men implicated in the shooting was arrested Wednesday, police told Patch.

In addition to avenging Barber's death, acts of violence were committed by the gangs in retaliation to perceived disrespect from other gangs and over turf disputes, prosecutors said. In total, the gang members committed eight shootings, three slashings and stabbings and two gunpoint robberies, prosecutors said.

The investigation into the gangs was led by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Unit and the NYPD’s Gun Violence Suppression Division, prosecutors said.

"This gang peddled violence in East Harlem, carrying out gun point robberies, shootings, and assaults, all to protect their turf. The indictment also alleges a homicide from 2016 also in Harlem," NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said in a statement. "I am proud of the work of this Department’s detectives and the prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office whose precision led to today’s 83-count indictment."

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