THE BRONX — Police arrested 10 members of a Bronx gang Wednesday after a series of shootings that were part of a violent turf war, officials said.
The men, ages 17 to 27, are accused of leading the Walton Townsend Gang, known as WTG, and are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, assault, weapons possession and sale and narcotics possession, among other charges, police said.
WTG was behind seven turf-related shootings from January 2011 to November 2012, including one on Sept. 21, 2011 that nearly killed a rival gang member, police said.
The gang is accused of bringing in cash through drug and weapon trafficking, as well as through payments from new recruits, and then violently defending WTG's territory between East 170th and East 174th streets, from Grand Concourse to Jerome Avenue, prosecutors said.
While searching WTG-controlled apartments on Wednesday, police seized six firearms, along with crack and PCP, officials said.
The accused gang members arrested Wednesday include the "Top Five" WTG leaders Shaquille Holder, Taury Wells, Joshua Colon, Dominique Boyd and Raigquan Brundidge, along with five "Big Homies" who were part of the second tier of leadership: Ronald Davis, Winston Williams, Jarrell Daniels, Shaun Deleon and Darren Bird.
"For too long, this community has been terrorized by gang members whose primary allegiance is to their guns," Bridget G. Brennan, New York City's special narcotics prosecutor, said in a statement.
"They steal, sell drugs, and take initiation fees from young recruits — all with the goal of buying more guns, which they use with reckless disregard for human life.... With today’s arrest of the gang hierarchy, those who stoked the violence have been taken off the street."
