Gang members looking for jewelry killed off-duty NOPD police officer for “misdemeanor theft”: Houston PD | Crimes / Police

When Houston Police Chief Troy Finner arrived at the scene of a daytime shooting that killed a New Orleans police officer who was off duty, he hugged the disturbed comrades of the dead Zulu officer. Social Aid & Pleasure Club. He also told the mayor of his city that he had a working theory about who committed the crime.

Finner detectives quickly focused on thieves targeting people with expensive jewelry. On Friday, officials said Finner’s suspicions had been proven correct and announced they were accusing two men of capital murder and looking for a third to be questioned in the Aug. 21 shooting that killed Det. Everett Briscoe critically injured his Zulu compatriot Dyrin “DJ” Riculfy.

Defendant gang members Anthony Jenkins, 21, and Frederick Jackson, 19, had been chasing people who wanted to steal high-end jewelry when Briscoe and Riculfy (the latter known for wearing expensive watches and chains) were shot. while they were outside a restaurant near the famous Space City Gallery Mall, said Lt. John McGalin of the Houston Police Department’s homicide squad.

Surveillance video and advice from community members implicates Jenkins and Jackson in the double deadly shooting that apparently resulted from a “random robbery,” McGalin said.

Both face charges of capital murder and attempted capital murder, District Attorney Kim Ogg said at a news conference in Harris County, Texas. Prosecutors could pursue the death penalty against Jenkins and Jackson, who had been charged in connection with previous charges of assault and theft with a deadly weapon, Ogg added.

A third person interested in the investigation into the Briscoe murder may also face charges, McGalin said. But that person was not arrested on Friday.

Houston police announced the arrests hours before a viewing in honor of Briscoe at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans.

On Friday afternoon, visitors showed up and fell silent as they paused over Briscoe’s coffin, which was flanked by police officers in full uniform. Against the backdrop were floral arrangements and other gifts that nodded with their ties to the NOPD and Zulu, and the sound of jazz music filtered from outside the auditorium.

According to initial reports from police and their friends, Briscoe, Riculfy and other members of the legendary New Orleans Zulu club who were on a boys’ trip to Houston gathered in the courtyard of the Grotto Ristorante to smoke cigars when two hooded men went ask them to raise their hands. The victims complied when at least one of the thieves started firing, police said.

Briscoe was beaten and died at the scene, leaving behind his wife and two children. Riculfy, the same husband and father, was also run over and taken to a hospital where he has since been in a medically induced coma, fighting for his life, according to relatives.

Almost immediately, investigators suspected that Briscoe and Riculfy had fallen prey to thieves targeting people with expensive jewelry outside of exclusive retailers, especially near the Gallery.

At least one such attempted robbery culminated in a murder earlier this year, and Finner has been urging residents to be vigilant against this trend called “juggling.”

La Gruta shares a mall with a jeweler boutique and a friend of Riculfy’s said he was wearing an expensive watch when he and Briscoe were attacked.

The pair of Houston police suspects linked to the double shooting have a history of previous arrest for violent crimes.

And Briscoe’s high-profile murder appears to be destined to play a role in an ongoing debate over bail releases in Houston.

Jackson and Jenkins were free, despite previous arrests, Ogg said.

Police arrested Jackson on charges that he had been following a person from the Gallery in September 2020 and that he stole the victim at gunpoint, according to the Houston court record.

According to documents, he had allegedly also broken into a closed building with the intention of stealing things a couple of weeks earlier.

Jackson filed a $ 180,000 bond. He was supposed to be wearing an ankle monitor and was under arrest 24 hours a day. But records claim he was coming and going as he wanted, and Ogg accused him of taking the monitor off his ankle.

Jackson, described as a member of an unspecified gang, was arrested without incident Thursday after being dragged into a car by SWAT agents who had stopped him.

Jenkins is a “known and documented” member of the Young Scott Block band in southeast Houston, Ogg said. That crew was a major player in a gang war that has claimed dozens of lives in recent years, according to police.

Police said they arrested Jenkins on Wednesday in an apartment complex where they found a Nissan Altima that fits the description of the vehicle used to escape the site of the Grotto shooting.

The day after his arrest, Jenkins was charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in a separate attack that happened the same day Briscoe died. In this case, according to the criminal record, he confessed to acting as a driver when he and two others stole a watch and a bag from a man.

The victim of this robbery described a gruesome sequence of events in a telephone interview. He said he and a companion had just parked the vehicle when the thieves appeared out of nowhere. He ran, but stumbled and fell. One of the thieves ordered him to take off his watch and wallet and complied.

“Man, you’re lucky not to throw your ass,” were the thief’s separation words to the victim, he said. “If I hadn’t fallen, I probably would have run more and he probably would have shot me.”

The thieves came out in a Nissan Altima with paper plates, the same description as the getaway vehicle in the Grotto shooting.

Judicial records indicating whether Jenkins and Jackson have attorneys were not immediately available.

Police did not say whether anyone would pick up the $ 100,000 reward offered for information leading to criminal charges in Briscoe’s death.

Finner said he had spoken with Briscoe and Riculfy’s women, including a personal meeting with Riculfy’s wife at a Houston hotel Thursday.

“It simply came to our notice then. Pray for her husband. Still struggling. But most importantly, pray for everyone, for everyone involved, ”Finner said.

New Orleans City Council member Jay H. Banks, a Zulu member and close friend of Briscoe, said he received the news of the arrests with mixed emotions.

“There is some relief that these people have been arrested,” Banks said. “But he will not recover Everett. The nightmare of these families is incredible.