Mom, son arrested in gang investigation

[Lucinda F. Boyd]

A 16-year-old boy and his mother have been arrested for being linked to the rival street gang of a teenager charged with shooting nine people Downtown earlier this month, police said today.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department gang crimes officers served a search warrant at either 4:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home in the 3200 block of Carpenter Court, according to a police report, which had both times. Police said they found paraphernalia associated with the Grimmie Boyz gang, including pictures on the wall.

The Westside gang is the rival of the Eastside gang, the Ratchet Boyz, with which prosecutors say accused shooter Shamus L. Patton, 17, is affiliated. Patton is accused of crimes in two of three Downtown shootings on July 17, near the end of a day of Indiana Black Expo’s Summer Celebration events.

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During Tuesday’s raid, police arrested Michelle Hurns, 34, on preliminary charges of felony criminal gang activity, resisting law enforcement and obstruction of justice. They preliminarily charged her 16-year-old son with criminal gang activity, resisting law enforcement, disorderly conduct and operating a vehicle without a license.

The Indianapolis Star typically does not identify juveniles accused of crimes until the prosecutor officially charges them as adults.

Criminal gang activity, a low-level felony, is among crimes that merit a direct adult-court filing under Indiana law, but it was not immediately known whether the 16-year-old would be charged as an adult.

Police were staking out the home when the boy drove up in a silver 2009 Dodge Charger, which police seized, according to an IMPD report. Detectives also confiscated cell phones, a computer, bullets and a Grimmie Boyz T-shirt during the raid.

The report, prepared by Det. Frank Miller, said, “The Grimmie Boyz is a confirmed criminal gang in Indianapolis,” which was involved in one of the shooting incidents at the Indiana Black Expo.

Patton was charged Monday as an adult with aggravated battery and 13 other counts in the shootings that wounded nine boys and men -- ages 10 to 19 -- in the two July 17 shootings. He remains jailed, a trial is set for Oct. 4, and a judge Aug. 4 will hear a request form Patton’s lawyer to reduce his $250,000 cash bond. If convicted of all charges, Patton faces upwards of 100 years in jail.

Several people told police they saw clothing associated with several city gangs and heard people proclaim a rival gang’s name before Patton opened fire, according to court documents..