Some 339 fugitives were nabbed in New York City last month as part of a nationwide effort targeting people accused of murder, sexual assaults and other violent crimes, the US Marshals Service said Wednesday.
The service’s 30-day “Operation North Star” took place in the Big Apple and nine other cities plagued by soaring gun violence and homicides – with a total 1,501 arrests made across the country in June.
New York had more arrests related to the operation than any of the other cities, with busts of both local suspects and of out-of-state fugitives who came to the five boroughs, officials said at a news conference at One Police Plaza.
Marshals and local authorities teamed up to make 41 arrests in homicide or attempted murder cases in the city, as well as 109 robbery busts, 84 for aggravated assault and 23 for sexual assault, officials said.
“Ultimately, the goal is to have an impact on violent crime and make our community safer,” said US Marshals Service Chief Inspector Edward McMahon.
“But what also is important is that people see teams of 10 to 12 members of law enforcement on their block surging into their neighborhood and taking away the bad guys. It lets them know that the police are still out there, doing the job to help keep them safe.”
Those arrested included Jaden Baskerville, 21, who was booked with attempted murder in connection with a broad daylight drive-by shooting that wounded a 7-year-old girl on Coney Island in March.
Also among those busted in the operation was 24-year-old drill rapper Jeffrey Alexander, aka Rapper 22Gz, a suspect in shooting that left two innocent bystanders injured in Brooklyn in March.
“We locked up a lot of people,” said Michael Kletzel, deputy chief and commanding officer of the NYPD’s Fugitive Enforcement Division.
Kletzel said the fugitive division arrests about 300 people a week on a regular basis.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the justice system has to work beyond just arresting people, in an apparent shot against lax bail laws and soft-on-crime prosecutions.
“They have to be prosecuted. They have to be detained,” Sewell told reporters of suspects. “They are dangerous. So the arrest is expected and that’s what we do but we need them to be held responsible for their actions after that arrest.”
The other cities in the operation were Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
Nationwide, the effort also led to seizing 166 firearms, over $53,600 in confiscated money — and more than 33 kilograms of illegal narcotics, the Marshals Service said.
