NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Multiple people have been fatally poisoned with narcotics in what investigators say were schemes by criminal crews to incapacitate and rob people at New York City bars and nightclubs.<\/p>\n
The killings \u2014 at least five, according to police \u2014 stretch back months and appear to be the work of different crews, operating independently from each other but using similar tactics, police and prosecutors said Thursday.<\/p>\n
Men surreptitiously slip revelers dangerous levels of drugs to knock them out, then take their wallets and phones, sometimes using their digital banking info to drain their accounts.<\/p>\n
In March, Nurbu Sherpa, a 29-year-old chef, was found dead on the sidewalk after leaving a bar where he had been celebrating St. Patrick\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n
In April, Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, died in a taxi after leaving a Manhattan bar with a group of men. Later, relatives discovered some of his savings had been stolen.
\nIn May, John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant visiting from Washington D.C., was found dead of an apparent drug overdose in the townhouse where he was staying. Surveillance video showed him leaving a popular club being propped up by a group of men. Money was also taken from his bank account.
\nOther men have come forward with stories about being drugged by strangers and waking up to find money gone.<\/p>\n
Many of the crimes remain unsolved, but the Manhattan district attorney on Thursday announced that one suspect, Kenwood Allen, of the Bronx, had been charged with murder in Sherpa\u2019s death and in the killing of Ardijan Berisha, 26.<\/p>\n
Berisha, of South Salem, New York, and a friend passed out on the sidewalk in July after drinking at a bar on Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side.<\/p>\n
Allen drugged both of his victims with fentanyl, prosecutors said, then robbed them. He is accused in three other instances where victims survived.<\/p>\n
Allen\u2019s sister told the Daily News her brother is innocent.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother is not a murderer,\u201d said Lauren Allen, 39. \u201cMy brother has always taken care of his family, his mother and his sisters. He\u2019s not in no gang. He\u2019s not in some crew going around drugging and robbing people. That\u2019s just not true, that\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one has been charged in the other killings, which are still under investigation.
\n\u201cNobody should have to worry that a night out at a Manhattan bar with friends could end in tragedy,\u201d Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.<\/p>\n
At a news conference Thursday, New York Police Department Lt. Det. Dave Leonardi said some of the victims were given a mix of drugs including lidocaine, fentanyl and cocaine \u2014 with lidocaine being the substance that really incapacitated them.<\/p>\n
The deaths of Ramirez and Umberger prompted concern that gay men were being targeted. Both died after leaving Manhattan LGBTQ bars. Some victims and their relatives have complained that the crimes weren\u2019t treated with more urgency by police.<\/p>\n
Umberger\u2019s mother, Linda Clary of Dawsonville, Georgia, said that after hearing about Ramirez\u2019s death and stories from others, she felt frustrated by authorities\u2019 response.
\n\u201cThere were enough cases reported that NYPD should have sounded the warning bells to say this is going on, people need to be careful, but they didn\u2019t,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said robberies have occurred beyond the gay community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t particularly think they\u2019re targeting gay members,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is based solely on monetary gain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, unease about possible targeting remains, especially in an environment when an anti-LGBTQ atmosphere has been felt around the country, said Beverly Tillary, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some sense of being on edge,\u201d she said, \u201cand not knowing what might happen next in terms of attacks on our community.\u201d<\/p>\n