Police Bust Crown Heights Street Gang That Used Fire Escapes for Break-ins

Members of the gang were as young as 13 years old, police said

A Crown Heights street gang with members as young as 13 years old that prowled fire escapes and rooftops to access apartments has been busted by police, officials said Wednesday.

The gang is known as the "Brower Boys" because it committed burglaries, assaults and robberies near Brower Park, police said.

Police and Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes announced an indictment against 14 alleged members of the gang that they said terrorized a neighborhood for a year from April 2011 until March.

They are accused of stealing mostly electronic equipment, including cell phones, laptops, cameras and video games that would later be pawned.

Police said they mostly broke into apartments where residents were not home, but in one case, the teen suspects tied up the male and female residents of an apartment as they robbed it, and then sexually assaulted the woman.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said some of the suspects made the mistake about fighting over the proceeds of their crimes on Facebook.

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