Last week, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, Police Commissioner Charles Gardner, and Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino Jr. announced a series of arrests that took place throughout the City of Yonkers and surrounding jurisdictions, targeting known members of the Blood Stones gang as a result of an intensive four-month-long investigation. “Operation: Blood Stone” is a collaborative law enforcement effort between the Yonkers Police Department and the Gang, Firearms and Narcotics Bureau of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
Members from YPD, including the Emergency Service Unit and with assistance from the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and Departments of County Probation and State Parole, began executing arrests last week, targeting 12 offenders who have been the subject of this investigation. The majority of these arrests took place on the west side of the city.
During the investigation, police detectives working in collaboration with our partners in the District Attorney’s Office reviewed numerous incidents that were found to be connected to this group of individuals. Detectives conducted multiple interviews, debriefings, viewing of video recordings, physical surveillance, and the execution of search warrants. Investigators were able to develop information targeting the Blood Stones gang, which was presented to a grand jury resulting in the indictment of these 12 individuals.
The defendants are facing felony charges of varying degrees including, but not limited to, attempted murder, conspiracy, criminal possession of a weapon, assault, and gang assault. The investigation is spearheaded by detectives assigned to YPD’s Gang Unit, which is tasked with monitoring, investigating, and apprehending perpetrators of group violence, with assistance from the 3rd and 4th Precinct anti-crime units.
“I commend the great work of our Yonkers Police Department and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for their steadfast commitment to keeping our streets safe,” said Mayor Spano. “We continue to work diligently to ensure our communities are rid of these type of criminals so we can provide for a safer City of Yonkers.”
Police Commissioner Gardner added: “These arrests demonstrate the power of collaborating with our law enforcement partners and our shared commitment to public safety by working together to remove dangerous individuals from our communities. Yonkers is one of the safest cities because of the resolute determination of our police officers and detectives. I applaud their work and thank the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for our continued special relationship in fighting crime.”
Scarpino said the newly formed Gang, Firearms and Narcotics Bureau within the District Attorney’s Office is showing results with cases like this – where prosecutors have worked closely with police detectives to build a strong conspiracy indictment against members of this gang.
“We commend the diligent work of the Yonkers Police Department and Westchester County Department of Public Safety for this collaboration, which resulted in rounding up members of this violent gang, and in so doing, making Yonkers and our surrounding Westchester communities safer,” he said.
As of last week, nine defendants have been apprehended with three offenders still at large. The investigation is ongoing and it is anticipated that additional arrests will be made. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the outstanding offenders is encouraged to contact the Yonkers Police Detective Division at 914-377-7724. All calls will remain confidential. Anonymous tips can be sent by texting the “YPD” plus the tip to 847411. Anonymous tips can also be sent directly through the YPD tips app, which can be downloaded for free to any Apple or Android device.
