Baseball Bat Bandits linked to more violence, community helps out

• Police name all Dick’s attackers, link to other crimes in the community

• Community information key in solving crime

COLONIE – Town Police Chief James Gerace credited the quick actions of good Samaritans with helping to piece together the involvement of five assailants accused in two separate incidents related to the purchase of expensive basketball shoes and other crimes.

“I truly believe that [when] the community [is] cooperating with the cops, that’s what controls crime,” he said. “Violent crime will not be tolerated by this town and will not be tolerated by this police department.”
The police and Town Hall called the conference to discuss a series of violent incidents in Town, including the baseball bat assault at Dick’s House of Sport in Latham Farms and how they have a common thread, many of the same suspects.

“One incident involved a discharge of firearms between vehicles near the intersection of Frederick Avenue and Central Avenues. The other involved a robbery inside Dick’s sporting goods as we know now both incidents involve many of the same individuals,” said Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey.
The case began as five suspects allegedly attacked a man and his son after they purchased sneakers at Dick’s House of Sport on Saturday, Aug. 24. Police say the incident has deeper ties with other criminal events within town.

So far, police have arrested a 15-year-old juvenile, a 19-year-old man, and a 21-year-old woman. Another man is in custody at the Albany County jail for a separate incident and is expected to be arrested tonight and charged for the sporting goods store incident tonight.

The fifth suspect, Kendryek Flynn, 21 of Watervliet has been identified but is still at large.

It all started after police responded to Dick’s House of Sport in Latham Farms on Saturday, Aug. 24 after receiving multiple 911 calls reporting a large fight at the store.

At approximately 11:57 a.m. officers arrived at 579 Troy Schenectady Road and witnesses reported a group of people striking each other with baseball bats.

“Our citizens pointed this out to us, [saying] ‘Hey, that’s your guy, right there.’”

— James Gerace, Colonie Police Chief

Emergency crews responded to the store and located two victims, a man and his son, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries from being attacked by a group of 5 suspects. The initial investigation found that the suspects watched as the victims purchased limited-release Nike Air Jordan sneakers, before assaulting them with baseball bats from inside the store and fleeing with the stolen items.

Police arrested one suspect, Kyle H. Fowlkes, 19, of Colonie, when he returned to the scene to retrieve a cell phone.

“He thought so little of his actions and thought so little of our response that he walked into Dick’s after the crime looking for his cell phone that he dropped during the robbery and checking what lost and found to see if he could get it back again,” Gerace said. “Our citizens pointed this out to us, [saying] ‘Hey, that’s your guy, right there.’”

On Wednesday, Aug. 28, Colonie police took a second suspect, Lyric N. Jones, 21, of Albany, into custody after an appearance in Colonie Town Court.

Angadi Jones, 19, appeared in Albany County Court that Friday for sentencing after a plea deal related to two incidents involving illegal guns. According to the Albany County District Attorney’s office, the sentencing was canceled and adjourned to Tuesday, Sept. 17. Angadi Jones was sent to the Albany County jail to await sentencing. Gerace said he will be arrested and charged later tonight for the sporting goods store incident.
Flynn is still at large and Gerace said he hopes that the community will help police in locating him.

Fowlkes, Lyric Jones, and the unnamed juvenile are charged with robbery-first degree and two counts of assault-second degree, all felonies, and criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor. The adults were arraigned in Colonie Town Court and remanded to the Albany County Correctional Facility with bail set at $10,000 cash, $50,000 bond, $100,000 partially secured bond pending a preliminary hearing. The 15-year-old was sent to a juvenile detention center. Angadi Jones and Flynn face the same charges.

“I truly believe that [when] the community [is] cooperating with the cops, that’s what controls crime.”

— James Gerace, Colonie Police Chief

None of the suspects are strangers to local police, courts, or Spotlight News.

Lyric Jones was arrested earlier this month and charged with criminal impersonation and two counts of aggravated unlicensed operation, all misdemeanors, for two separate incidents in the town. This was in connection with a shooting incident at a park on Frederick Avenue on Wednesday, Aug. 14. The 15-year-old was also involved with that incident.

According to police, at approximately 3:30 p.m., a Facebook Marketplace transaction was to take place at a parking lot at the Anson Pocket Park in Colonie’s West Albany Neighborhood.
The park is nestled between Fredricks, Charles and Wilson Avenues and is a destination for many children and families from the active neighborhood.

“This is where our kids play. This is where families walk their dogs. This is where citizens go to enjoy what the town of Colonie offers,” Gerace said.

Gunshots rang out and the cars collided then both left the scene. A witness reported a partial plate number and a description of the car hit with gunfire to police and detectives traced it to Collin Campbell Jr., 21, of Troy, and located it at a Dowling Road residence.

After getting a search warrant, police found a loaded handgun in the backyard, $53,000 in cash, and three pounds of marijuana inside. The car had other bullet holes in it from prior shooting and a blown-out window from this one.

On Thursday, Aug. 29, Campell was charged with robbery – forcible theft with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, and reckless endangerment, all felonies. He was sent to the Albany County jail.
Another concerned citizen notified police they saw a person in the other car involved throw an object into the woods on Amboy Drive shortly after the incident. Police searched the area and retrieved another loaded handgun.

A short time later, another caller said a person was searching the area where the gun was found. Police found that it was the same 15-year-old juvenile from the Dick’s assault and took him into custody. Also, it was Lyric Jones who was driving the car and she did not have a license.

The juvenile was charged with attempted criminal possession of a weapon, a felony. Police are searching for two other persons of interest who were in that car.

January incident

Fowlkes was arrested with three other men in January for an incident in Watervliet where shots were fired in the area of 23rd Street and Second Avenue. An hours-long standoff took place in Watervliet by police negotiators and a SWAT team, only to find the men had left before the lockdown. Police caught up with them a short time later, however.

In that case, Watervliet police charged Fowlkes, Angadi Jones, and Kasiyan Payne with criminal possession of a weapon- second degree and criminal possession of a weapon-third degree, both felonies, for the unlawful possession of a handgun and a 30-round magazine.

Payne also faced additional charges for discharging the firearm during the incident and a fourth man, Flynn, was charged in February with facilitating another defendant to commit a shooting, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence.

In January, all three were sent to the Albany County jail after arraignment but were out a short time later.
Additionally, Angadi Jones was stopped in a vehicle near the intersection of New Karner Road and Central Avenue in April 2023 and charged with criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of an illegal ammo clip, both felonies and DWAI-drugs and drinking alcohol or smoking on a highway, both misdemeanors and ticketed for a safety glass violation.

He was sent to the Albany County jail as a pre-arraignment detainee at that time and was arraigned the next morning in Colonie Town Court.

The investigation into the Frederick Avenue shooting is still ongoing, but police say they believe there is a connection and will provide details once that is complete and charges filed.

As of Tuesday, Sept. 3, Fowlkes is no longer in custody because he made cash bail, but Lyric Jones and Angadi Jones are still listed as in custody at the Albany County jail.

“Have our judges been provided the latitude to slow down such individuals after their first felony arrests?”

— Peter Crummey, Colonie Town Supervisor

Gerace said that he made the decision not to release a video of the incident due to victim impact.

“Our job is to protect our victims. So I asked myself as the chief of police is providing this video so that it lives forever in social media doing right by our victims and the answer that I came to was no,” Gerace said.

Questions of age and bail

Crummey questioned the limitation of judges to set bail in these cases.

“Have our judges been provided the latitude to slow down such individuals after their first felony arrests,” he said. “I presided for 21 years as a judge in this very room and I can tell you that a judge should be allowed to consider public safety in determining the release status of someone who is rearrested on felony charges.”

Of the six arrested, only Lyric Jones, Angadi Jones, and the juvenile are still in custody at this time.

“I want to recognize the commitment that our police department, our detectives work around the clock sometimes for over 24 hours without sleep attempting to take the ball that was handed off from our citizens and put it into the end zone and bring these suspects to justice,” Gerace said.

Michael Hallisey contributed to this story

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