Day: July 22, 2025

The alleged arsonist accused of torching 11 police vehicles in Brooklyn last month and ordered released following arraignment on federal charges Monday wound up being re-arrested, this time by NYPD officers, for a separate misdemeanor charge.

Jakhi Lodgson-McCray, 21, surrendered to police custody on Monday morning alongside his lawyer and mother. He has been sought by law enforcement since June 12 when he allegedly scaled the fence of a lot on DeKalb Avenue between Wilson and Central Avenues used by the NYPD to store police vehicles and set them ablaze.

Despite boosting fingerprint and surveillance evidence, McCray’s attorney, Ronald Kuby, said that the judge moved to release his client on house arrest. However, just as he was being fitted with an electronic ankle monitor, NYPD officers took McCray into custody on a different charge.

“Before he could get his ankle monitor, the NYPD decided to arrest him for some misdemeanor from last September because I guess they really couldn’t allow him to spend tonight at home,” Kuby said. “There was some protest at Columbia last year, and they decided to charge him with a misdemeanor over it.”

Last month, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that McCray was a known protester who was wanted for impersonating a student and causing destruction of property.

“He’s also wanted for a criminal mischief incident in Columbia University back in September, where he disguised himself as a student and caused over $1,000 of damage to a statue on the campus,” Chief Kenny said.

In torching the NYPD cars in a Bushwick parking lot, prosecutors allege that McCray caused over $800,000 in damages in an effort to prevent police response to a protest that weekend.

Court documents reveal that police recovered sunglasses from the scene with fingerprints matching McCray.

“This destructive act of arson was deliberate, dangerous, and deeply disruptive,” United States Attorney Joseph Nocella said. “Setting police vehicles ablaze is not a form of protest—it is a federal crime. Our office will not tolerate violence or destruction that undermines law enforcement efforts to ensure public safety and will prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law.”

Meanwhile, McCray prepared a statement through his attorney in which he thanked his “comrades” for support as he faces federal charges.

“There’s a real chance that I won’t see the outside of a cell for years, but I make this choice clear of mind and, in a naive way, hopeful. It’s a hope that comes from feeling loved and supported by my friends, my family, and my comrades that have rallied in support of me in wake of the accusations. It’s a feeling that I cherish,” part of McCray’s statement read. “My charge comes with a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20.”

The alleged leader of Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday, July 21.

The post Ecuadorian drug kingpin pleads not guilty appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.

A Brooklyn subway station is a hotspot for fare evasion as the MTA continues its fight to stop the money-losing scourge throughout the city. 

Commuters tipped off amNewYork to rampant fare evasion at the Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street station in Williamsburg, home to the G and L trains. During our visit to the station on a quiet afternoon on July 21, a reporter witnessed no fewer than four people hopping the turnstiles within 30 minutes.

Two fare evaders even jumped over the turnstile at the station’s Union Street and Metropolitan Avenue entrance, where there was a station agent on duty not far away.

One man looked both ways, braced himself and then smoothly jumped the arm of the turnstile before politely asking other commuters, “Want me to open the door for you?”

They did not accept the offer. 

“This happens all the time. It’s citywide,” the agent said while describing how many commuters get a free ride. 

Free rides via fare evasion disgusts commuter

Roz Haddock, who lives in the area, said people often use the emergency door to evade the fare at the Williamsburg hub.

“I can count on one hand how many people pay,” Haddock said. “I’m disgusted with what goes on with mass transit.”

The Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street station is amNewYork’s latest look into the city’s fare evasion issue.

The Metropolitan Avenue G train station falls under the purview of NYPD Transit District 30, while the Lorimer Street stop on the L line is within the confines of NYPD Transit District 33.

According to the NYPD, Transit District 30 reported 185 fare evasion arrests and 1,846 fare evasion summonses in the first quarter of 2025; Transit District 33, meanwhile, saw 579 arrests and 2,677 summonses for fare evasion during the same period. Station-by-station statistics were not immediately available. 

During visits this year to the 42nd Street-Grand Central Terminal and Woodside’s 61st Street station where the 7 train stops, many commuters were seen dodging the $2.90 fare using various techniques, including crawling underneath or jumping over the turnstile, squeezing into it two at a time and sneaking in through the emergency doors. 

City, fare evasion remains a major problem that costs the MTA around $800 million a year. But the agency has not sat idly by and let the illegal activity continue without a fight. Officials have taken aggressive action to stop the behavior, including surging additional police officers into the system in recent years.

One way they have done that is by deploying unarmed gate guards at select stations throughout the city. Fare beating has even dropped by 36% at stations with guards, the agency told amNewYork. 

Some station turnstiles have been redesigned with sleeves and barriers to make jumping them more difficult. At these stations, the agency reported a 60% drop in turnstile hopping. 

Enforcement is ramping up, too. According to the MTA, the NYPD made over 6,500 arrests related to fare evasion this year through May, which is an 85% increase from the same period in 2024. 

Meanwhile, amNewYork’s visit to Lorimer Street came on the same day the MTA celebrated the best summer week since 2019, as four million subway riders rode the trains three days in a row from July 15 to 17.