44 people have been indicted in Operation Dead End, a 14-month investigation of a crime organization accused of terrorizing a New Jersey city.
In the the indictment handed down on Monday, a police officer, Bloods and Crips gang members and pawnshop owners were among 44 people indicted for their alleged roles in a criminal organization responsible for violent street crime in Asbury Park.
The 219 page indictment reveals the accused were conspiring to obtain guns, target rival gang members in shootings, and distribute narcotics in the Asbury Park area.
According to authorities, members of the organization tried to distract police of their criminal activity by using “coordinating tactics” including calling in reports of false emergencies and attempting to fire shots in the air, which police were able to prevent before the gunfire.
There were at least eight instances when members of the organization were either shooting, attempting to shoot or being shot at, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation, dubbed “Operation Dead End,” revealed the crime organization was operating on Dewitt Avenue, and a section of Jersey Street in the Washington Village Public Housing Complex – both dead end streets in Asbury Park, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Asbury Park residents James Fair, 26, and Altyrek Leonard, 21, are accused of being leaders of the criminal enterprise who conspired with other members to obtain guns and target rival gang members in shootings, authorities said. The duo was charged with promoting organized street crime and racketeering conspiracy.
Also among the indicted was a veteran of the Asbury Park police force. Patrolman Keith German, 46, of Tinton Falls, is accused of helping the organization avoid police detection by giving them confidential law enforcement information, authorities said. German also gave some of the accused information from a law enforcement database, letting them know if they had any outstanding warrants for their arrest and asked Fair to help gather information about a woman he was stalking, authorities said.
German was charged with official misconduct and unauthorized access of a computer database.
