For the second time in seven days, an Atlantic County Grand jury returned an indictment charging multiple individuals with gang-related activity, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner announced.
Authorities, on Feb. 1st, charged Laque Boggs, 21, of Pleasantville, Quamir Gerald, 21, of Absecon, and Quaheim Garner, 21, of Hamilton, in a 9-count indictment that arose from a shooting on March 9, 2017, in the 300 block of North Virginia Avenue, in Atlantic City.
On that date, members of the Atlantic City Police Department responded to multiple ShotSpotter alerts in the Meadows housing complex. Officers located Quaheim Garner and Quamir Gerald, who was found with a gunshot wound to the leg.
The Atlantic City Police Department Violent Crimes Unit and the Pleasantville Police Department Street Crimes Unit ultimately identified Laque Boggs as one of multiple shooters involved in the incident. The investigation also revealed that Laque Boggs, Quamir Gerald and Quaheim Garner were in the process of filming a video near the border of 8 Blok/Head Shot Gang territory, when an exchange of gunfire erupted.
Subsequently, the New Jersey State Police alerted the Prosecutor’s Office that ballistics testing potentially connected shells ejected from the handgun charged against Boggs, Gerald and Garner and two other incidents: The shooting of an Atlantic City man in Pleasantville in December 2016, and a handgun recovered during an unrelated death investigation in Atlantic City in November 2017. Further testing is being done to confirm the link.
The indictment charges Laque Boggs, Quamir Gerald and Quaheim Garner with first-degree Gang Criminality in possessing a Community Gun in association with, or for the benefit of, the South Side Mob criminal street gang. The indictment also charges Boggs, Gerald, and Garner with Gang Criminality in commission of Harassment and Cyber Harassment. Boggs additionally is charged with Unlawful Possession of a Handgun and related offenses, including Assault-by-Pointing a firearm at or in the direction of citizen bystanders in the Meadows housing complex. Gerald additionally is charged with Possession of Heroin and Cocaine. Laque Boggs is currently in custody at the Atlantic County Justice Facility; Quamir Gerald and Quaheim Garner are pending arrest.
Anyone with information involving serious crimes is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or go to the Prosecutor’s Office Web site at http://www.acpo.org/tips.html and provide information by filling out the form anonymously on the Submit a Tip page. People can also call Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or visit the Crime Stoppers Website at http://www.crimestoppersatlantic.com/.
These charges are merely an accusation and not proof of guilt. In all criminal cases, a charged defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.