Romey ordered Reemy and Skeemer to jump Lil Keith. Lil Keith got a gun and fired off a barrage of bullets, hitting two bystanders.
That story emerges from an arrest warrant affidavit on file in state Superior Court on Elm Street, where “Lil Keith” was arraigned on Thursday morning. Police arrested the 23-year-old felon on Wednesday on assault and gun charges.
The charges stem from a shooting early in the morning on Feb. 15, 2013, outside the Taurus Cafe on Winchester Avenue. Two people survived injuries after they were hit by bullets outside the bar.
Cops made the arrest thanks to the cooperation of people in the neighborhood. It’s the latest in a string of cases closed with community help.
Here’s what happened, according to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by Detective Gary Hammill:
At about 12:43 a.m. on Feb. 15, police responded to the Taurus Cafe at 520 Winchester Ave. on a report of shots fired. They found a 19-year-old man lying on his side in the foyer of the Taurus. He’d been shot in the butt. Another man, a 56-year-old, was lying on the sidewalk. He’d been shot in the leg.
The 56-year-old told Detective Hammill he’d been working at the bar and had stepped out for a cigarette. He heard a commotion on Thompson Street and walked to the corner to look. He heard someone yell “I’m hit,” and realized he’d been shot himself.
The 19-year-old told cops he’d been walking home from Buffalo Wild Wings when he was shot.
People in the club reported seeing a group of men attacking a man inside the Taurus.
Three days after the shooting, a confidential informant told cops that on the night of the shooting “Romey” had ordered “Reemy” and “Skeemer” to assault Lil Keith. Lil Keith had then returned to the Taurus with a gun looking to shoot Reemy and Skeemer. From previous narcotics investigations Detective Hammill and Officer Martin Podsiad knew the real names of all those people, except for Lil Keith.
A “concerned citizen” told cops the dispute had been over a drug deal. Another concerned citizen told cops Lil Keith’s real name. An eyewitness ID’d Lil Keith in a photo array and said he had fired a gun on Thompson Street that night. The police had their warrant.
