Accused members of a Harlem street gang were behind the fatal assault of a teenage boy, a litany of shootings and other concerted acts of violence on the city’s streets throughout 2024, Manhattan prosecutors charged Wednesday.
Thirteen suspected members of the “OY” crew, including two minors, were named in a sweeping 66-count indictment filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. One of them was charged with the murder of 16-year-old Tresaun Clements, several others with attempted murder, attempted assault and weapons offenses, and 12 with murder conspiracy and related counts. Two were arraigned Wednesday, with the remainder slated to appear before judges on Thursday.
At a press conference, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the gang’s “senseless violence” put countless innocent bystanders at risk, playing out inside bodegas, in the middle of the street in Harlem and Upper Manhattan neighborhoods, and even inside the building housing his own office.
“Murder and weapons conspiracies, a homicide, nine shootings and a slashing right here in this courthouse,” the DA said. “It’s senseless violence over so-called gang territory, spilling out into our communities with drastic and deadly and devastating results.”
Bragg said the street gang feuded with rival groups over drug sales, primarily in four city Housing Authority developments: the Drew Hamilton Houses, Harlem River Houses, Douglass Houses and Polo Grounds Towers.
The indictment accuses Alfred Bernard, 20, of fatally punching Clements on W. 148th St. and Bradurst Ave. in October 2024 after mistakenly believing him to be a member of a rival gang at the Polo Houses. Police responding to a 911 call found the teen slumped over on the pavement with head wounds, and he was rushed to Harlem Hospital. He fell into a coma and died within weeks of the incident. Prosecutors said Clements did not belong to any gang.
Six others were charged in connection with Clements’ killing, including 20-year-old Dandre Murray, who was charged with attempted murder and other offenses at his arraignment Wednesday and held on $150,000 cash bail or $250,000 bond. His lawyer, Howard Weiner, declined to comment after the hearing.
Bragg said prosecutors had turned up YouTube videos and other social media activity where members of the OY crew celebrated the bloodshed with relish. He said he believed social media was driving violence and being used as a vehicle for retaliation.
“I grew up not too far away from some of this conduct,” he said. “Forty years ago, two people got into an altercation — let’s say there was no gun involved — you each went back to your block.”
“Now, whatever happens is on social media within a matter of minutes.”
The DA said at least three members of the crew were involved in the Manhattan Criminal Court slashing months later, alleging they smuggled scalpels through security and waited for two rivals to exit a court hearing, surrounding and pouncing on them outside an elevator bank.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, in a statement, also decried the suspects, saying, “These alleged gang members turned areas in Harlem into their own deadly playground — senselessly claiming the life of a New Yorker, placing many more at risk with reckless gunfire, and even brazenly smuggling weapons into a courthouse to carry out a violent assault on rival gang members.”
“Street crews that show zero regard for human life have no business on our streets, and the NYPD will stop at nothing to dismantle gangs that threaten our communities.”
The Daily News reached out to a lawyer for Bernard for comment.
