Jurors were subjected Wednesday to harrowing footage of a shooting spree inside a Brooklyn bar in the trial of an alleged gang leader accused of killing a rival in cold blood.
Larry Pagett, a reputed leader of the Eight Trey Crips gang, is on trial for fatally firing a bullet into the brain of 27-year-old Chrispine Philip, a member of rival crew Folk Nation, while Philip hung out inside Buda Hookah Bar in Prospect Lefferts Gardens on Aug. 28, 2015.
On Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mathew Miller called Detective Lucasz Sieka from the 71st Precinct to the stand, where he questioned him on a mound of CCTV evidence taken before, during and after the shooting.
In footage taken from different angles, jurors saw a man resembling Pagett walking inside the packed lounge at 2:54 a.m. Holding a pistol, he follows Philip closely and then fires several shots at the victim's head and back from just a few away.
Philip tries to get away but crumples to the floor as terrified patrons scramble for cover. The gunman fires another round point blank at Philip, then tries to flee the bar in a panic, stumbling over several people huddled on the floor.
Additional footage obtained from two bodegas, a liquor store and three NYPD surveillance cameras along Flatbush Ave. show the suspect hurriedly walking south on Flatbush following the shooting. He eventually makes his way east toward Montgomery St. — tossing his cap and white t-shirt along the way.
The last video shown to jurors captures the suspect entering an apartment building on Montgomery St. and Schenectady Ave. — Pagett's address at the time.
Prosecutors say Pagett, 38, killed Philip to “maintain and increase his position in the gang.” Five patrons were wounded in the melee.
Pagett — whose lengthy rap sheet includes wounding a bystander while fleeing a robbery and shooting a man with a rifle from a sixth-story window in 2005 — diligently took notes throughout Wednesday’s testimony, occasionally leaning over to whisper to his attorney while footage of the chaotic scene was projected onto a screen behind him.
If convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison. The trial continues Thursday.
