The Brooklyn DA's office and NYPD revealed that they arrested 14 members of a "violent Crown Heights gang" known as the Brower Boys. The suspects, the youngest of whom is 13, would break into apartments and, in one case, they raped a woman during a home invasion. They were discovered thanks to their Facebook bragging.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says, “Although some were as young as 13, the Brower Boys were old hands at burglaries and worse—victimizing neighbors, but making the mistake of fighting over the proceeds on Facebook, which led keen NYPD Anti-Crime officers in the 77th Precinct to monitor and arrest them." More specifically, the Daily News reports one suspect wrote, "It's break-in day on the avenue," on Facebook and "The dopey burglars apparently didn’t clam up after two other Brooklyn gangs were busted for touting their exploits on Twitter and other sites. Some even joked they could be targets." Kelly said, "They talked about the possibility of the Brower Boys being next and they signed their messages with LOL, laughing out loud." Police captured video of the gang breaking in:
The crimes took place between April 2011 and March 2012, with the crew stealing mainly electronic equipment, like cell phones, laptops, cameras and video games, which they would later pawn; authorities said they pawned most of the items. One of the incidents was a home invasion that turned into an hour-long sexual assault of a Bed-Stuy woman earlier this year; four people, including the 13-year-old, were arrested.
