Alert New York City cops added to the increasing tally of gun possession arrests in the past week, with two young men stopped while trying to illegally gain access to the subway system in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and another nabbed moments after shooting two people in the Bronx.
Plainclothes officers on their way back from Bronx Central Booking in an unmarked police car on Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. happened upon approximately 10 people arguing near the corner of East 167th Street and Morris Avenue.
Then gunfire rang out and the group scattered.
“We heard the shots fired – it occurred right in front of us,” said Police Officer Matthew Lombardo of the 48th Precinct. “It felt like it was straight from a movie. You don’t expect it to happen like that.”
Police saw 23-year-old Kazeem Lhabaik run from the scene, gun in hand. The cops spilled from their vehicle and a foot chase ensued. Lhabaik, who has prior marijuana possession arrests, threw the weapon into an alley.
He was immediately apprehended and his 32-cal Kel-Tec semiautomatic firearm, previously reported stolen out-of-state, was recovered. Several spent .32 cal shell casings also were found at the shooting scene.
The two victims – a 22-year-old man shot once in the right buttock and a 21-year-old man shot once in the right foot – each made their own way to Lincoln Medical Center, where they were treated and released.
Lhabaik, a Bronx resident, was charged with Criminal Possession of a Loaded Firearm and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. At his arraignment Wednesday, he was released on his own recognizance.
The 44th Precinct, where the shooting occurred, has seen a 3.4% decrease in shooting victims this year through Sunday, according to NYPD data, while the number of arrests for gun possession has skyrocketed 25% in the same time frame.
Citywide, there have been 2,245 gun arrests this year, a .4% increase over last year.
At 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday, 21-year-old Danari Aiken of Brooklyn was spotted asking strangers to swipe him into the subway station at West 34th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan.
An officer who stopped and questioned Aiken found he had an active warrant, and quickly discovered he also was carrying a .22 cal Rohm revolver, loaded with four live rounds.
Aiken, who has prior arrests for burglary and robbery, was charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon and Unlawful Solicitation. At arraignment, he was held on $50,000 bail.
Hours later, at 11 p.m. inside the Utica Avenue station in Brooklyn, police watched as 19-year-old Kamani Moore used a student MetroCard that didn’t belong to him to swipe into the subway system.
Moore could produce no identification and, while being arrested, a loaded .380 cal Jimenez semiautomatic firearm was found secreted against the inside of his upper left thigh. Its serial number had been scratched off.
Moore, who was charged with Criminal Possession of a Defaced Firearm and Theft of Service, was held on $1,500 bail.
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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One Response
while they are busy making it harder for lawful citizens to buy firearms that are rarely used in crimes, they let a guy with priors go from a police witbessed gang shooting on his own recognizance? Does anyone else see the problem here?