Bloods v Crips gang members from Central Islip and Bay Shore have been charged in connection with a bloody attack at a Suffolk mall early this month
Three gang members from Central Islip and Bay Shore have been charged in connection with a bloody attack at a Suffolk mall early this month that left another teen, who they believed was a member of a rival gang, with several stab wounds, Suffolk police said Saturday.Third Squad detectives arrested Wayne Booker, 17, at his home in Central Islip on Saturday morning and charged him with wielding a knife against Christopher Findley, 19, at the South Shore Mall in Bay Shore on Jan. 8.Booker and two men who police said were his associates in the Bloods gang, Edward Burgos, 19, and Gabriel Matos, 19, both of Bay Shore, were charged with first-degree assault and gang assault.Findley, who police said has no known gang affiliations, was inside the mall when a verbal altercation started between him and the three men, who believed from Findley's clothing that he was a Crips gang member, according to Det. Sgt. William Rand.Findley "went outside and they started punching him, and at one point Wayne Booker took out a knife and stabbed him five times," Rand said.The Bay Shore teen ran bleeding through the mall before collapsing near the entrance to Macy's. He was admitted in critical condition to Southside Hospital with a punctured, collapsed lung and a lacerated liver. Findley was just released from the hospital on Thursday, police said.Booker was located at his home Saturday morning and arrested without incident, Rand said. Burgos was arrested Jan. 19. Matos also was charged Jan. 19 in the attack on Findley after Matos was arrested on a weapons charge when he was found in a car with several other people and a gun, police said.Booker was to be arraigned Sunday in First District Court in Central Islip. Matos and Burgos were previously arraigned; each pleaded not guilty.
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