Authorities in New York City say at least two different Black gangs are drugging people at bars so they can rob them. They are calling it a new emerging category of crime. It has been named “Robbery Pattern 188” and “Robbery Pattern 90.” The numbers 188 and 90 represent the specific tactics the two different gangs used. Police have connected 17 cases to pattern 188 and 26 to pattern 90.
Some media are also referring to the killings as “roofie murders.”
The perps go to nightclubs and poison people with a potentially lethal combination of drugs. They particularly target Manhattan’s gay dance clubs in Hell’s Kitchen, East Village, and the Lower East Side. In many cases, the perps will offer people cannabis or cocaine as they are leaving the club. This will be laced with other drugs to incapacitate the victim. Some victims were also beaten in alleyways behind dance clubs. Then they have their possessions stolen. In some cases, victims’ cellphones are used to transfer money out of accounts like Venmo, Cash Apps, and others.
The NYPD has identified as many as eight people who have been murdered this way during 2021 and 2022. Suspects have been charged in relation to four deaths. Kathryn Marie Gallagher, a White female who once worked for Lady Gaga, was declared to be a victim last week. She died in July of last year. No one has been charged for killing her yet. According to the New York Daily News, there are three other unnamed victims.
The perps especially target homosexual men, and all the identified victims are non-Black. However, the NYPD denies that any of the crimes constitute “hate crimes” since robbery is involved.
The first person to be arrested was Allen Kenwood, 34. He was charged with the murder of Ardijan Berisha and Nurbu Sherpa. He was also connected to three other victims who survived.
At least seven other Black males have been charged in connection with these attacks. Jacob Barroso, 30, Romel Davis, 24, Andre Butts, 28, Shane Hoskins, 31, Eddie Ashley, 29, Jayqwan Hamilton, and Robert DeMao, 34. Some of these people have been charged in connection with the murders of John Umberger, 33, and Julio Ramirez, 25. They were targeted at gay bars in the Hell’s Kitchen area.
The NYPD reports that 73% of known homicide offenders in NYC were Black in 2021.
