Police: East Utica fight was gang-related
Story Created:
Jul 14, 2010 at 11:52 AM EDT
Story Updated:
Jul 14, 2010 at 5:21 PM EDT
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Several Utica teens are under arrest after what police are now calling a gang fight that happened in east Utica Tuesday afternoon.
It happened near the corner of Eagle Streets and Hammond Avenue. A Utica police officer happened to be on a routine traffic stop around a block away when a passer by told him there was a large fight nearby.
Police say suspects scattered when the officer arrived at the scene, but police did manage to take six suspects into custody. They are: Saw Pa, age 16; Hto Htoo, age 18; Ruby Sein, age 19; Lwi Pee, age 17; San Lin, age 16 and Deania Lay, 17. They face charges ranging from riot to assault, including both misdemeanors and felonies.
Utica Police say each teen arrested had a weapon, whether a B.B. gun, knife, pipe or stick. Police have recovered the knife and gun.
Police believe members of the "Asian Boyz" gang and L.E.S. (Lower East Side) gang were involved in Tuesday's assault. Utica's police chief says the emerging gang problem in Utica requires special attention, and that he and others are working on that right now.
"A youth gang committee for the purpose of dealing with youth gangs from the point of sharing information about all these different ethnicities so we are on the same page and more importantly we can take some preventative, suppression efforts in the future," says Utica Police Chief Mark Williams.
Williams hopes the youth gang committee will have its first meeting in August. Members will include staff from the Oneida County District Attorney's Office and the probation department. Local gang experts say there are currently around 24 gangs operating in the city of Utica.
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