CMPD Task Force Rounds Up 20 Men Accused of Gang-Like Activity
CHARLOTTE, NC – Police say a task force rounded up 20 suspects in North Charlotte accused of violent crimes ranging from armed robbery to murder. Neighbors say they feared the men investigators accuse of gang-like activity.
Jean Kearney showed where a bullet is lodged in the side of her home after a shootout a few years ago. “There’s not much separating you from the outside. Six inches of wall, bullets can come through that,” Kearney says.
She and others in the Sunstone community now feel more at ease after police announced the arrests of the suspects. Investigators say many of them lived in the neighborhood and others near Statesville Road.
Antonio Rollins is the highest profile arrest. He’s charged in the November 2014 murder of Jose Cuestas outside a car wash on Sunset Road.
“The level of violence, it created a level of fear within these communities,” explains CMPD Captain Mike Harris.
He says the task force, formed over the summer, found most of the violence was sparked by two groups going after each other.
“As the escalation came to a head, they didn’t care if innocent victims were in the way or not,” Harris says.
