A 20-year-old fugitive Atlantic City man indicted on bail jumping charges was taken into custody on Friday afternoon, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner announced.
Taquay Dunston was taken into custody in Atlantic City by members of the FBI Task Force and with assistance from Atlantic Prosecutor’s Office detectives, Atlantic City Police Department and the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office.
An Atlantic County Grand Jury handed up an indictment for third degree Bail Jumping on June 12, against Dunston who was scheduled to be sentenced on April 13, 2018, and remained a fugitive.
According to authorities, on February 21st, Dunston joined four other males who pleaded guilty in connection to the Taj Mahal shooting. Dunston pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated assault, second-degree possession of a handgun for unlawful purposes and fourth-degree aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, subject to an agreement that he serve consecutive terms totaling eleven years in New Jersey State Prison, with a stipulated period of parole ineligibility of six years.
Officials say Dunston was scheduled to be sentenced on April 13, 2018, but failed to appear in court for sentencing.
Authorities say on February 21st, Taquay Dunston of Atlantic City pleaded guilty and admitted his role in the 2016 gang-related shooting inside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino/Hotel on the 47th floor, which occurred at the start of the Easter holiday weekend on March 24, 2016, when Dunston was 18 years-of-age. An extensive probe by the Atlantic City Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit revealed approximately 20 teenagers attended a party at a Trump Taj Mahal hotel room. The party resulted in a shooting between two rival Atlantic City gangs, and video surveillance captured Dunston firing a handgun into the hotel room. The motivation for the shooting was an ongoing dispute between the Back Maryland-area Head Shot Gang and the Stanley Holmes Village-area Fettigeez gang.
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.
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.