Man arrested for killing reformed ex-gangster in botched on-camera robbery: NYPD

The NYPD has arrested a man who is believed to have carried out a botched robbery turned killing of a reformed ex-gang member in 2021, reportedLaw & Crime on Tuesday.

"Ron Reeder, 52, was arrested following a police raid in Teaneck, New Jersey, last month, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said in a press release," reported Colin Kalmbacher. "Two other people were also arrested and charged with weapons, drug, and identity theft offenses. It is unclear if the other two defendants are believed to be tied to the violence that took the life of Jermaine Dixon, 46, on the morning of Sept. 6, 2021. The victim was shot at point-blank range in the South Ozone Park neighborhood in Queens. Witnesses said the gunman pretended to work on a nearby car for hours before ambushing Dixon, NYPD sources told the New York Daily News."

What made this killing so notable was that it was all caught on film — and the assailant was wearing a Hasidic costume.

"In the surveillance video, a man wearing a Hasidic-style hat and a long black robe appeared to be performing repairs or maintenance on a white Nissan sedan with its hood, trunk, and door open," said the report. "As Dixon walked over to his own Ford Edge SUV, the killer rushed up behind him and shot him in the back of his head. He quickly rifled through the limp man’s body, came away empty-handed, made his way back to the Nissan, closed the hood, and drove away." Police believe the killer was after $10,000 he had on his person.

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"At the time of his death, Dixon had only been out of prison for less than a year – following a long and redemptive stay behind bars," said the report. "A former member of Brooklyn’s Patio Crew, a mob-like racketeering group that billed itself as a neighborhood social club who met at a namesake restaurant in the Flatbush neighborhood, Dixon was considered a model prisoner who made serious amends. His life sentence for a drug-related murder was cut to 30 years. Over time, he got a college degree and filed for compassionate release." At his hearing, he told federal judge Raymond Dearie, "I am not the young man that your honor sentenced 20 years ago."

Dearie, incidentally, gained national attention last year after a Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida appointed him special master to review documents the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago, after a controversial ruling blocking them from using the material in their security investigation. An appeals court ultimately threw out the process, allowing the FBI's investigation to proceed.