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| Reputed Leader of the Trinitarios, Gang Tied to Teen’s Death, Is Arrested | Reputed Leader of the Trinitarios, Gang Tied to Teen’s Death, Is Arrested |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Police officers battered down an apartment door in the Bronx on Wednesday and arrested a man investigators believe is the leader of the Trinitarios, a Dominican gang linked to the grisly murder of a 15-year-old boy outside a bodega last year. | Police officers battered down an apartment door in the Bronx on Wednesday and arrested a man investigators believe is the leader of the Trinitarios, a Dominican gang linked to the grisly murder of a 15-year-old boy outside a bodega last year. |
| The man, Richard Ramirez, was just one of 10 people taken into custody during early morning raids by the New York Police Department in the Bronx, Queens and Upper Manhattan and held on charges including gang assault, conspiracy and attempted murder. | The man, Richard Ramirez, was just one of 10 people taken into custody during early morning raids by the New York Police Department in the Bronx, Queens and Upper Manhattan and held on charges including gang assault, conspiracy and attempted murder. |
| The men are accused of assaulting about half a dozen victims in attacks during 2017 in Upper Manhattan near West 192nd Street, according to one person with knowledge of the case. Five others were still being sought on Wednesday evening, the police said. | The men are accused of assaulting about half a dozen victims in attacks during 2017 in Upper Manhattan near West 192nd Street, according to one person with knowledge of the case. Five others were still being sought on Wednesday evening, the police said. |
| “We believe that these were random acts of violence by the Trinitarios gang protecting their territory,” Deputy Chief Timothy McCormack said at a news conference. The attacks, he said, were “very vicious acts of violence with knives and machetes.” | “We believe that these were random acts of violence by the Trinitarios gang protecting their territory,” Deputy Chief Timothy McCormack said at a news conference. The attacks, he said, were “very vicious acts of violence with knives and machetes.” |
| The men were expected to be arraigned on Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. They are suspected of being members of Los Surés, a violent faction of the Trinitarios gang that was behind the killing of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, the teenager killed in June 2018 when gang members mistook him for a member of a rival group. | The men were expected to be arraigned on Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. They are suspected of being members of Los Surés, a violent faction of the Trinitarios gang that was behind the killing of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, the teenager killed in June 2018 when gang members mistook him for a member of a rival group. |
| Video images of Lesandro, known as Junior, being pulled out of the bodega and hacked to death on the sidewalk stunned the city and the nation. | Video images of Lesandro, known as Junior, being pulled out of the bodega and hacked to death on the sidewalk stunned the city and the nation. |
| The police have said members of the same gang brutally assaulted a teenager on the Bronx River Parkway two days before Lesandro was killed. | The police have said members of the same gang brutally assaulted a teenager on the Bronx River Parkway two days before Lesandro was killed. |
| The current charges, however, are not directly linked to Lesandro’s murder, Chief McCormack said. | The current charges, however, are not directly linked to Lesandro’s murder, Chief McCormack said. |
| Investigators said they believe Mr. Ramirez took over the leadership of Los Surés from Diego Suero, who was among 14 people indicted last year in connection with Lesandro’s killing. In June, a jury convicted five of those men of murder, and they are expected to be sentenced on Friday, according to the Bronx district attorney’s office. | Investigators said they believe Mr. Ramirez took over the leadership of Los Surés from Diego Suero, who was among 14 people indicted last year in connection with Lesandro’s killing. In June, a jury convicted five of those men of murder, and they are expected to be sentenced on Friday, according to the Bronx district attorney’s office. |
| The police recovered a shotgun, a handgun and other “paraphernalia” with gang symbols during the Wednesday morning raids, Chief McCormack said. | The police recovered a shotgun, a handgun and other “paraphernalia” with gang symbols during the Wednesday morning raids, Chief McCormack said. |
| Los Surés is one of several factions within the Trinitarios, a prison gang founded in 1993 on Rikers Island by two Dominican prisoners, known on the street as “Junito” and “Caballo,” Detective Paul Jeselson, an expert on Bronx gangs, told The New York Times last year. The two men were seeking “protection inside the jails,” he said. | Los Surés is one of several factions within the Trinitarios, a prison gang founded in 1993 on Rikers Island by two Dominican prisoners, known on the street as “Junito” and “Caballo,” Detective Paul Jeselson, an expert on Bronx gangs, told The New York Times last year. The two men were seeking “protection inside the jails,” he said. |
| The name Trinitarios is derived from three revolutionaries of the Dominican Republic. In New York, the gang members are known to use machetes, a symbol of their agrarian roots; the weapons quickly helped to establish their reputation for ruthlessness. | The name Trinitarios is derived from three revolutionaries of the Dominican Republic. In New York, the gang members are known to use machetes, a symbol of their agrarian roots; the weapons quickly helped to establish their reputation for ruthlessness. |
| Outside jail, the Trinitarios took hold in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn, then spread throughout the city and Long Island, Detective Jeselson said. | Outside jail, the Trinitarios took hold in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn, then spread throughout the city and Long Island, Detective Jeselson said. |
| The factions are highly organized, holding meetings that are governed by a strict set of bylaws. Gang members regularly mete out punishment to transgressors, experts have said. | The factions are highly organized, holding meetings that are governed by a strict set of bylaws. Gang members regularly mete out punishment to transgressors, experts have said. |
| The expansion of the gang from its origins in 1993 was tightly controlled: New crews could only be created with formal approval of the gang’s leadership. That mixture of discipline and ferocious violence has helped the gang thrive. A police database from 2011 estimated there were 1,181 Trinitarios in the city. | The expansion of the gang from its origins in 1993 was tightly controlled: New crews could only be created with formal approval of the gang’s leadership. That mixture of discipline and ferocious violence has helped the gang thrive. A police database from 2011 estimated there were 1,181 Trinitarios in the city. |
| Rebecca Liebson contributed additional reporting. | Rebecca Liebson contributed additional reporting. |