NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Eight alleged gang members have been indicted in connection to a shootout at a Bronx car dealership that injured an innocent father as he shielded his three kids from the gunfire.
The same defendants who shot the 39-year-old dad three times during that brazen attack also engineered a sprawling scheme to defraud the government of coronavirus aid while stealing thousands more from rideshare drivers for services like Uber and Lyft, according to dual investigations from the Manhattan and Bronx district attorneys’ offices.
Defendants Daijon “Dayday” Crawford, Aaron “Whitey” Heredia, Zykeith “Kaykay” Fearon and Kelechi “Dresser Mouth” Ogidi – all 21 years old – allegedly worked together to steal about $6,500 directly from rideshare drivers’ earnings.
The four would book trips with a fake destination that was nearly identical to the pickup address, prosecutors said. When a driver noticed the error, the defendants would ask to call a friend for a correct address and borrow the driver’s phone for the conversation.
One passenger would then distract the driver as the other quickly transferred the drivers’ in-app earnings to their own personal bank accounts, prosecutors said. The defendants allegedly targeted 50 drivers between January and April of 2020, successfully stealing money from 10 of them.
As Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s office probed the rideshare thefts, investigators unfurled a more sprawling scheme involving four defendants and another, Akeyle “Akey Goon” Baker, to defraud the government.
The five allegedly used stolen identities to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars of pandemic-related relief from nine states – including more than $50,000 from New York.
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Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark subsequently opened an investigation into the gang that found Crawford, Baker and Fearon to be the alleged triggermen in the Bronx dealership shootout last September at On The Road Automotive Group in Eastchester.
The defendants have also been indicted in a separate shooting that left another innocent bystander, a 52-year-old woman, with a life-altering injury, prosecutors said.
The eight face a 155-count indictment that includes conspiracy to commit murder, grand larceny, identity theft and other charges.
Seven of the defendants were arraigned on July 28, 2021 and July 30, 2021 in Bronx Supreme Court, with four more scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court.
“These alleged gang members are charged with the two gang activities that plague our communities—financial crimes and wanton gun violence,” Clark said.