Four buildings in Peekskill suspected to be part of a narcotics packaging and distribution operation were raided by federal law enforcement officials early Tuesday morning, November 13.
At Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, Police Chief Leo Dylewski said the raid was part of a larger operation that had eight search warrants executed, including four in Peekskill, one in neighboring Yorktown, two in New York City, and one in Bayonne, New Jersey.
“This morning when I was in at 3 a.m., I noticed there were some posts about helicopters flying overhead, and concerns that maybe people were hearing things and weren’t sure what was going on,” Dylewski said. “What you were hearing wasn’t helicopters. What you were hearing were airplanes from the FBI.”
Around 4 a.m., the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Westchester County Police Department, Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, New York State Police, the Yorktown Police, the Ossining Police, the NYPD, the DEA, the Yonkers PD, and the Bayonne New Jersey Police Department, executed eight search warrants, resulting in seven arrests.
Those involved are allegedly responsible for selling thousands of dollars of narcotics in Peekskill, Dylewski said, including crack, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. From the eight searches, law enforcement agencies were able to take three guns off the street, $91,000 in cash, 87 grams of PCP, one kilo of crack cocaine, and two and a half kilos of methamphetamine.
The investigation was several months into the operation, according to Dylewski. It started in Peekskill from information the police department obtained during quality of life initiatives in downtown, he said. As the investigation grew they included the FBI Safe Streets Task Force.
“This investigation was started because of quality of life issues in the downtown area,” he said. “We heard you, we knew what was going on. We made sure that we did this. This is not over. We ain’t done yet. We haven’t finished. It’s going to continue,” said Dylewski at the meeting.
The arrested suspects are Jerome Reed, Jason Tinsley, Meisha Cato, Gary Burket, Lamar Kingwood, Rakim Mayo, and Ryan Thomas. The Herald asked which of these four were from Peekskill, but Dylewski said he did not want to go into it right then.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, is expected to come out later today with more information. The office has not responded for a comment, as of press time.
The four locations were not named at the meeting, but Peekskill residents reported seeing raids taking place at Bohlmann Towers at 807 Main St, as well as at 1119 Howard St. City Manager Matt Alexander also said one of the places involved was 901 Main St. The Herald has learned that the fourth location is Dunbar Heights, off Highland Avenue.
“This issue resolved one of the people that was really a problem for 901 Main,” said Alexander. “And so a lot of this work came from taking the Building Department and the Police Department and going over and having meetings. I was asked to have another meeting with 901 Main and I will be meeting with them (Nov. 13).”
The Herald also spoke to one resident at Howard St who witnessed one of the four raids but preferred to remain anonymous.
Around 4 or 5 a.m. the resident was woken up by a series of loud booms outside followed by a voice shouting, “FBI.” Upon moving to the window, the neighbor said they observed local police, FBI, and other departments surrounding and searching the premises. “I was amazed how they came in force,” they said. “They don’t come with one or two people. That kind of blew my mind. It was almost as if they made a bubble around that house.”
Law enforcement were at the home from about 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., the neighbor said. During that period they witnessed the female owner of the home distraught because she had children in the house. “I was concerned about the kids because they’re the sweetest little kids,” they said. The children were separated from their mother and taken care of by law enforcement, the neighbor said. “They played with them and brought them breakfast” they said. “They let them play ball with them, made sure they had their coats on. They really were good to those kids.”
Chief Dylewski told the Herald they heavily considered how any kids would be impacted during the raids. The children are in the custody of Child Protective Services.
“It was our top priority to mitigate any risks to the kids that we possibly could,” he said. “…As we were looking at the circumstances that were going on, we were planning for instances that may come.”
Deputy Mayor Patricia Riley commended Chief Dylewski and the department for their work at yesterday’s Common Council meeting.
“This tells us that this business is going to stop here in Peekskill,” she said. “We want people to know that, and we want to thank all those officers, everyone involved for that on the street, the walking posts, everything. Because all that stuff makes a huge difference. You’re visible. You’re seeing things. I know it’s going to keep going, but this makes our life happier, safer, and makes quality of life so much better here for all of us.”
Councilman Ramon Fernandez added that if residents saw something, they should say something, and to be confident in their police department.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.
