A massive NYPD crackdown last month on two Bloods gang offshoots in a crime-ridden Brooklyn housing project had an unintended consequence — the gangbangers recouped income lost from their hampered criminal enterprises by robbing innocent victims from surrounding neighborhoods.
The Mad Dogs and Stone Cold Villains have long been fighting for control of the drug trade at the Red Hook Houses, but business has been bad since the area was flooded with cops in response to escalating violence.
So, the gangs adopted new, more sinister, ways of making money, ranking NYPD officials said.
“The gang members, the upper echelon, decided to recruit 14, 15, 16-year-old kids to go out and generate that income illegally, generating phone robberies, phone-snatchings and the like,” Capt. Jeffrey Schiff of the 76th Precinct told residents at a recent community meeting. Cash and other electronic devices were also taken from victims, Schiff added.
The young punks preyed on people on the streets of Red Hook, as well as Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill.
“They spread out,” Schiff said. “They started committing a bunch of robberies while we’re in Red Hook.”
Over a 28-day period, there were seven robberies in Red Hook, while Carroll Gardens had six, Schiff said. There were also two in Cobble Hill and one in the Gowanus area.
The rash of street crime triggered outrage in the community and police brass have promised to keep concerned residents in the know by increasing the precinct email alert mailing list to 700 recipients, up from 300.
Those on the list will receive updates about significant crime incidents and mug shots of wanted perps.
Schiff also noted that his officers have made several robbery arrests, including three teens that pulled a knifepoint mugging and another two teens wanted for a phone-snatch.
He attributed the summertime spike in housing project violence to the brief return of Mad Dog member Calvin Stallworth.
Stallworth’s crew controls the western part of the Red Hook Houses while their foes, the Stone Cold Villains, oversee the eastern territory, Schiff added.
The two gangs, which both wear red bandanas and sneakers, are fighting for control of the flagpole on Hicks Street and Centre Mall as both a status symbol and a hotspot to peddle drugs, he said.
“We flooded that area to such a high degree — we had lots of officers, plainclothes –to such an extent, because of all the shootings and violence this year, seven versus six last year,” Schiff said.
When the heat from law enforcement became too intense, Stallworth fled to Ohio, where he was apprehended July 30 with a .38-caliber gun, Schiff noted.