• Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes Announces Takedown Of Clinton Hill Drug Ring
• Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes Announces Conviction In Armed Robbery Of Red Hook Bar

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KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES TAKEDOWN OF CLINTON HILL DRUG RING  

“OPERATION GRAND SLAM” NETS 11 DEFENDANTS 

INVESTIGATION STEMS FROM LOCAL COMPLAINTS 

             Brooklyn, November 24, 2009 – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the indictment of 11 people involved in a Clinton Hill drug ring that sold crack cocaine and marijuana on the street, in a residential apartment building and out of several local businesses, in the vicinity of Putnam and Grand Avenues. 

            “These drug dealers thought they could take over the neighborhood, selling poison on the street and in the hallways of an apartment building, sometimes in view of school children”, District Attorney Hynes said. “Thanks to the work of the NYPD and the prosecutors in my Major Narcotics Bureau, these defendants will not be dealing anything for a long time.” 

            The joint investigation, with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD’s Brooklyn Narcotics Division, stems from complaints from community members in the neighborhood. Undercover officers infiltrated the operation and made 18 purchases of crack cocaine, over several months. 

            Dealers sold drugs on the street, in an apartment building on the corner of Putnam and Grand Avenues and used a barbershop and two t-shirt shops to store and sell drugs. When search warrants were executed, on October 29, officers recovered 75 grams of crack, worth $10,000 retail, from the barber shop, as well as two guns and almost two pounds of marijuana in the two t-shirt stores. A third gun was recovered from the home of the manager of one of the stores. 

            Eleven defendants are named in four indictments. The top charges against them include Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a Class-B Felony, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class-C Violent Felony. Several defendants are also charged with Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class-E Felony. 

            An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt. 

            The case was investigated by NYPD Inspector Jim Essig and Detective Bryan Mullady.

            The prosecution team included Major Narcotics Investigation Bureau Deputy Bureau Chief Pat Cappock and Assistant District Attorneys Eric Goldman and Alex Azcuy. They were supervised by Bureau Chief Lawrence Oh and Chief of the Major Narcotics Investigation Bureau Suzanne Corhan. 

Contact:  Jonah Bruno
                (718) 250-2300

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KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES CONVICTION IN ARMED ROBBERY OF RED HOOK BAR 

             Brooklyn, November 16, 2009 – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the conviction of Luis Rodriguez, 28, for the 2007 armed robbery of a Red Hook bar.  He was also charged with robbing another Red Hook bar two weeks earlier, but acquitted of those charges.  He was convicted after a four-and-a-half week trial on charges of Robbery in the First Degree, Attempted Robbery in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.  He faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced before Justice James Sullivan on December 8.   

            On September 23, Rodriguez entered the Bait and Tackle Bar, located at 320 Van Brunt Street, shortly after 2PM, and asked to use the restroom and left.  The bartender went into another bathroom to clean up before more customers came in.  When the bartender came out of the restroom, Rodriguez was there wearing a bandana and his accomplice, Jose Rivera, was wearing a ski mask.  Rivera pointed a gun at the female bartender, who was the only other person in the bar and demanded her to get to the back of the bar.  They bound her mouth, arms and legs with duct tape and took money out of the cash register before fleeing in a Chevy Blazer.  The bartender noticed a tattoo on Rodriguez’ neck.  She was eventually able to seek help and later reported the incident to police.   

            Exactly one week later, on the afternoon of September 30, Rodriguez entered the Moonshine Bar at 317 Columbia Street in Red Hook.  He used the bathroom, left the bar and returned with Rivera who was again wearing a ski mask.  This time, Rodriguez’ face was not covered.  Rivera displayed a gun towards the bartender and a customer, the only other people in the bar at the time.  They took money from the cash register and the customer, and then fled.  A local eyewitness outside noticed the two men fleeing in a hurry and made sure to get the license plate of the Chevy Blazer that they escaped in.  The eyewitness kept repeating the license plate number so he would not forget it, and rushed into the bar to find the victims tied up in the back.  The incident was captured on videotape surveillance.  They called police with the license plate number and traced the vehicle back to Rodriguez’ common-law wife, Carmen Garcia, who is also Rivera’s mother.  The surveillance camera and the victim’s description of the defendant revealed a distinctive tattoo on the defendant’s neck as well as a teardrop tattoo on his face. 

            A couple of weeks later, on October 15, Rodriguez returned to the Bait and Tackle Bar with Garcia at approximately 3AM.  A different bartender was working this time.  He noticed the teardrop on Rodriguez’ face and remembered his description from the first robbery.  As Rodriguez and his wife ordered drinks with Rivera waiting outside, the bartender had his friend in the bar go outside and call police.  In the meantime, the bartender went to the bathroom and also called police.  Outside the bathroom door was a wanted poster with a sketch of Rodriguez.  When the bartender left the bathroom, the defendant had already fled, leaving his wife inside the bar.  Police were called and Rodriguez was found hiding underneath a car nearby.  The Chevy Blazer was found outside the bar with a gun inside. 

            Carmen Garcia was also arrested and has since been indicted for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree.  She is awaiting trial.   

            Rivera was arrested earlier this year after his DNA was found on the gun and mask.  He has also been indicted and is awaiting trial. 

            The case was prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Levitt and Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gearon of the Trial Bureau Blue Zone. 

Contact:  Sandy Silverstein
                (718) 250-2300