Gang Rivalry Sparked Shooting At Brooklyn Restaurant, Feds Say

PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDEN, BROOKLN — A brawl-turned-shooting outside a Brooklyn restaurant in March all stemmed from a thrown drink and a longtime gang rivalry, prosecutors announced this week.

Two longtime Brooklyn gang members — Christian Williams and Davon Brown — were arrested Tuesday for their involvement in a March 20 shooting outside Gold Room restaurant on Rogers Avenue, were one man was left needing surgery after he was shot in the butt, court records show.

The shooting broke out after the man who was shot flashed rival gang signs at Williams and Brown, who are both members of the "Folk Nation Gangster Disciples," prosecutors said.

“As alleged, a minor dispute escalated to a shooting, underscoring the need to eradicate violent gangs that jeopardize the safety of our communities," said Seth DuCharme, the acting United States Attorney.

Investigators say the brawl at the Gold Room all started when someone who was with the shooting victim threw a drink on a woman, splashing someone who was standing with Brown.

As the two groups argued, the man who was later shot, a Crips gang member, flashed a gang sign meant to show disrespect to the Folk Nation group, prosectors said.

Outside the bar, Brown took out a gun and fired a shot into the air before handing the gun off to Williams, who shot the man in the buttocks, prosecutors said.

The investigators tied Brown, 26, and Williams, 25, to the shooting by comparing surveillance video with photos the two men posted on social media of their outfits that night.

They then found the two men's DNA on the gun that was used, prosecutors said. Brown and Williams are both charged with "being felons in possession of a firearm."

The March shooting came toward the start of what would become a citywide spike in gun violence this year. Brooklyn officials have specifically tied the borough's shooting surge to gang activity.

Both Brown and Williams had been released from jail just months before the shooting and were still being monitored by parole officers and other authorities at the time of the incident, prosecutors said.

Brown, who also goes by "Chico Dinero," has previous robbery, weapons and disorderly conduct convictions and was most recently in prison for leading a bank fraud scheme for the Crips, according to court records. Brown switched to the Folk Nation gang while in prison, prosecutors said.

The 26-year-old is accused of committing the same bank fraud scheme last summer. He was caught on ATM cameras in August depositing fraudulent checks and then withdrawing money before the checks could be identified as fake, prosecutors said.

Again, investigators connected him to the surveillance video using photos of Brown in the same outfits posted on social media.

Williams, also known as "Zonee Flocks," had been in prison on charges from an earlier shooting of a Folk Nations gang rival in 2017, records show.

Both men face up to 10 years in prison if they are convicted of the most recent weapons charges, prosecutors said.