Yonkers, NY (PUBLIC SAFETY BULLETIN) – Today, Mayor Mike Spano, Commissioner Chris Sapienza, and Westchester County Department of Public Safety Acting Commissioner Terrance Raynor announced a series of arrests which took place last week throughout the City of Yonkers, targeting street level drug dealers, including members of several local street gangs, as a result of an intensive six-month long investigation. Operation: Elm Sweep is a collaborative law enforcement effort between the Yonkers Police Department, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, and the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
Members of the Yonkers Police Department began executing arrests last Tuesday, targeting fourteen offenders who are the subject of this investigation. The majority of these arrests took place on the west side of the City. The defendants allegedly operated in and around the Nodine Hill Area, specifically the Elm Street corridor, and were engaged in illegal narcotics sales including crack-cocaine. Undercover officers were utilized in the course of this investigation.
Many of the defendants have extensive criminal histories, and many have been present or connected to group violence and violent incidents in the area, including: murders, attempted murders, stabbings and felony assaults, multiple incidents of shots fired, and illegal possession of firearms; two were present in the bodega deli where a Yonkers Police Detective was recently shot; the April 2021 shooting of a 6-year-old child on Ash Street and the June 2021 drive-by shooting on Elm and Oak Streets, where five people were shot, are associated with the same. Combined, the fourteen defendants have a criminal record representing over 100 arrests, more than half of which are felonies, with over 50 convictions; they have over 20 open cases, and 5 illegally possessed firearm arrests.
Illegal narcotics sales and group violence are interconnected, and Operation: Elm Sweep intends to interrupt the violence by targeting the drug dealers and removing them from our communities. Working together with our law enforcement partners, Yonkers Police investigators secured County Court indictments against the thirteen adult defendants for Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance 3’, a Class B Felony in the New York State Penal Law; the undisclosed youth will be adjudicated in the Youth Part of Criminal Court.
“Thank you to the men and women of the Yonkers Police Department for their unwavering commitment to protecting the quality of life for all in our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Mike Spano. “This joint operation should send a clear message to those seeking to commit crimes of any kind in our city – we will find you and ensure you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The vast majority of people in Yonkers are good, honest, hardworking individuals who want no part in the senseless violence these men seek to cause in our communities, and it will not be tolerated.”
Commissioner Chris Sapienza stated, “Our Nodine Hill residents deserve the safety, security, and high standards of quality-of-life that is expected of a first-class city like Yonkers, and our Police Department is committed to providing and safeguarding those values. By removing these bad actors from our community, we are putting an end to the violence that accompanies them. I applaud the efforts of our Yonkers Police Narcotics Unit for spearheading this investigation and would like to thank our partners in the Westchester County Police Department and Westchester DA’s Office for their invaluable assistance.”
Westchester County Department of Public Safety Acting Commissioner Terrance Raynor stated, “I commend the members of the Yonkers Police Department, Westchester County Police and Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for their great work during this complex and dangerous investigation. The collaboration and partnership among these agencies has helped restore safety and security to the neighborhood where this drug trafficking and related violence was occurring. I would particularly like to acknowledge the undercover officers assigned to this investigation. Because of the nature of their work, they cannot be here to be acknowledged in person, but investigations like this one are not possible without their courage, dedication and skill.”
As of today, twelve defendants have been apprehended and two remain outstanding. The investigation is on-going, and we anticipate additional arrests in the near future. The case is being prosecuted by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. Additional information may be released as it becomes available.
#YonkersPD The City of Yonkers
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