Times Square migrant gang linked to Tren de Aragua attacked NYPD with scooters, basketballs, bottles
Police are still looking for at least six teens behind the Friday night attack at West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue. The teens were members of Diablos de la 42, an offshoot of the notorious Venezuelan Tren de Aragua street gang.
'It's horrific enough to be a victim of a crime,' Adams said at a news conference on the wanted suspects Tuesday. 'When someone openly assaults a police officer you are attacking our symbol of safety. It cannot be tolerated.'
New York City police have released images of three of the suspects still being sought, believed to be between ages 15 and 20. (New York City Police Department/TNS)
The NYPD released images of three of the suspects still being sought, who appear to be between ages 15 and 20. As of Tuesday, five of the 11 attackers were in custody, police sources said. They range in age from 19 to 12.
'This was a planned attack that was carried out with intent,' NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
'This is not a low-level crime. This is organized violence carried out by gang members that we have already taken off the streets for preying on New Yorkers. And now they're back, ambushing cops in Times Square. It's not a fluke. It's a system failure.'
Adams and Tisch credited the NYPD's controversial gang database in helping detectives identify five of the suspects who were arrested within four days.
'You can't fight organized violence with blindfolds on,' Tisch said as she railed against the City Council's attempts to delete the database. 'It defies common sense that our city council is looking to abolish this database.'
Advocates for the database's removal say it is made up almost entirely of Black and Hispanic New Yorkers, with names staying in the database far longer than they should.
Cops called Diablos de la 42 a 'young farm team' of Tren de Aragua, who have weapons, flash gang signs and use emojis provided from the parent crew. The NYPD has identified 37 Diablos de la 42 gang members who are responsible for over 240 arrests, cops said.
The NYPD has done several take-downs of Tren de Aragua and its splinter groups in the last year and taken several guns used by members off the street but they remain 'out there on Friday doing what they did,' Tisch said.
'We still have more work to do,' Tisch said.
Two weeks ago, federal authorities announced more than two dozen New York City Tren de Aragua members, all migrants from Venezuela, had been been arrested on federal murder, racketeering, drug and sex trafficking charges.
On Friday, the two cops were protecting three teens from being robbed by a dozen muggers when the gang members were caught on video pelting the officers with numerous objects about 7:30 p.m., Tisch said.
Neither officer was seriously harmed.
Three of the teen muggers were arrested Saturday. A fourth surrendered to police on Sunday and cops arrested the fifth suspect Tuesday morning.
The oldest suspect is 19-year-old Yeterxon Jose Mijares-Hernandez, a migrant staying at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown. Cops charged Mijares Hernandez with attempted assault, obstruction of government administration, and riot.
Four out of the six teens still being sought have been identified, cops said. All of them have been repeatedly arrested before, Tisch said.
A 17-year-old suspect was also charged with obstructing governmental administration, rioting and menacing. A 16-year-old boy was additionally charged with attempted assault of a police officer and reckless endangerment.
Charges against the 12-year-old and a 14-year-old boy weren't clear. The 12-year-old boy made headlines last year when he was arrested at age 11 in connection with a string of Central Park cellphone robberies, police sources said.
As cops track down the remaining members, the NYPD is also investigating how a teen gang member was able to smuggle a cellphone into a 'juvenile room' used to hold minor offenders and take selfies of himself and his friends flashing gang signs, Tisch said.
Police said that Tren de Aragua members operate in large groups and surround their victims before mugging them. Many of the suspects are young teens, something advocates tend to zero in on above the rights of the victims, Adams said.
'If you are 15 and decide to stab someone I don't want to hear people tell me it's a young person,' Adams fumed. 'When you're a victim of a crime the last thing you're thinking about is the age of the person.'
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