Nine Persons Under Court Injunction to Stay Away from Entertainment District Downtown

As part of the Central Precinct's focus on developing innovative strategies to maintain peace and enhance safety in the Entertainment District, nine persons who are alleged to be part of a gang that targets victims downtown have been placed under a court-ordered temporary injunction to avoid the area.

The nine, eight adults and one juvenile, are alleged to be part of the Krooks gang, whose members have been known to target intoxicated persons, tourists and others under the pretext of selling clothing or other merchandise with the objective of gaining possession or control of the victims' cell phones. Once that occurs, they are alleged to use a mobile payment app to transfer money away from victims' accounts. If a victim detects/objects to the scheme, Krooks members are reported to have escalated encounters to intimidation and even assault.

Individual arrests and prosecutions have not fully stopped the activities, prompting Central Precinct officers to enlist the help of the District Attorney's Office in obtaining a gang injunction against the nine, which was issued by Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier at the end of August.

The nine are prohibited from a "safety zone" downtown bounded by Union Street to the north, Korean Veterans Boulevard to the south, the Cumberland River to the east, and Rosa L. Parks Boulevard to the west. The injunction also prohibits them from committing scams at any location where a victim's phone is accessed for the purpose of transferring money, and from being a lookout, decoy, spotter, recruiter, or transporter to accomplish conduct addressed by the injunction.

Those named in the injunction are convicted robber Demontaz D. Jones, 21, convicted robber Jamontez Alondo Gordon, 22, convicted robber Kesean Rondell Johnson, 20, Treshawn Jones, 18, Deniyah Gordon, 18, Ricky Dewayne Crawley Jr., 19, Brendan Howard, 24, Makeel Horton, 20, and a 16-year-old.

Five of the nine appeared in court this week and agreed to adhere to the temporary injunction: Treshawn Jones, Deniyah Gordon, Brendan Howard, Makeel Horton, and the 16-year-old. Hearings are pending for the other four.

This continuing investigation is being coordinated by Sergeant Brian Quigley, a supervisor on the MNPD's Entertainment District Unit, in coordination with the department's Violent Crimes Division.