Ex-con accused of killing two in NYC was ‘one-man crime wave’ from age 12: sources
Petey #Petey
The ex-con accused of killing two people and wounding a 96-year-old bystander during a shooting spree in New York City was “a one-man crime wave” from an early age, running with gangs when he was just 12, according to law-enforcement sources.
Sundance Oliver, 28, was a baby-faced member of Brooklyn’s Loop Gang, a violent crew based at the Pink Houses in East New York, sources told The Post on Tuesday.
Oliver — who has the words “Rich Forever” tattooed on his face and a Superman logo on his neck — also “freelanced” with other crews and allegedly pulled off robberies with the Petey Gang and the Rich Fam Gang, the sources said.
In all, he had 31 busts on his rap sheet — including sealed cases — and was still on parole on a 2015 felony robbery conviction for which he served five years in prison.
Sundance Oliver, 28, has been on the radar for the NYPD since he was 12, sources said. NYPD
Sources said Oliver was himself shot in drug-related incidents in 2012 and 2013.
One police source who remembered him from his days with the Loopy Gang told The Post: “He was a one-man crime wave always carrying the gun.”
On Tuesday, Oliver was hit with murder, attempted murder and a slew of other charges for an alleged several-day crime spree that began with a violent robbery on Nov. 21 and ended with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old girl, police said.
At a press conference, NYPD Chief James Essig told reporters how Oliver — who he said has 12 prior unsealed cases and had been on cop’s radar for at least a decade — allegedly spiraled out of control in the days before his latest arrest.
“Mr. Oliver was actively sought by NYPD personnel after a three-day violent rampage which resulted in two homicides, one non-fatal shooting, one robbery and one assault, which was domestic related,” Essig said.
A detailed look at Sundance Oliver’s crime spree.
On Monday, Nov. 21 in The Bronx, Oliver and four other cohorts allegedly robbed a man at gunpoint and made off with $4,450.
He popped up on the police radar again on Friday, Dec. 2, when cops busted another man, Brandon Hampton, outside a Brooklyn bodega for firing at a passing car — which police believe Oliver was riding in, Essig said.
On Saturday, Oliver allegedly slugged his girlfriend during an early morning argument in The Bronx, with the woman later filing a domestic violence assault report with cops at the 48th Precinct stationhouse.
Then Sunday, Essig said Oliver tried to rob a man outside the same Brooklyn bodega and fired two shots at the victim before allegedly stealing $3,560 from the cash register.
The following day, “he begins his killing and bloodshed,” Essig said.
The NYPD launched a massive manhunt for Sundance Oliver before he turned himself in to cops at Brooklyn’s 77th Precinct stationhouse on Tuesday morning. G.N.Miller/NY Post
On Monday, Oliver allegedly confronted Hampton’s girlfriend outside Kingsborough Houses in Brooklyn around 9:30 a.m. and demands $50 — and opened fire when she ran.
The stray bullets struck the 96-year-old bystander sitting in his wheelchair, wounding him.
At 2:40 p.m. that day, Oliver allegedly shot and killed a 20-year-old man inside a sixth-floor apartment at the Smith Housing Development in Manhattan before fleeing.
Just hours later, shortly after midnight, Essig said Oliver shot and killed 17-year-old Keshaiya Rattray-Brothers, mortally wounding the teen.
“Of course he should’ve been in jail,” one police source said. “He has been involved in criminal activity since he was 12 when he was shot. He was also arrested numerous times.
“If the justice system would’ve done their job two innocent people would be alive today and a 96-year-old man would not have been wounded,” the source said.
Keyaira Rattray-Brothers, 17, was shot and killed shortly after midnight Tuesday, allegedly by ex-convict Sundance Oliver, police said. Paul Martinka
Essig said Oliver had several prior brushes with the law since he was paroled from state prison on July 23, 2020, after serving more than five years on a first-degree robbery conviction — and is on parole until March 2023.
He remained on parole despite repeated arrests almost immediately after his release from the Five Points Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
On Sept. 7, 2020 — less than two months after his release from prison — was arrested in Brooklyn and charged with possession of a loaded Ruger .380-caliber handgun.
A source familiar with the case said Oliver was frisked by officers who believed that he was present at a dice game, and a gun was found on him. A review of that case determined the search to be unlawful and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office dropped he case.
Then, on Aug. 27 this year, he was arrested by cops at the 77th Precinct in Brooklyn again charged with criminal possession of a weapon — with the case later sealed.
The DA’s Office declined to prosecute because there was no weapon recovered and no ballistic evidence to prove the charges, according to the source familiar with the case, who noted Oliver was shot or shot at during that incident.
Sundance Oliver, 28, was the subject of an NYPD manhunt before he surrendered. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post
A spokesperson for the state Department of Correction and Community Supervision said: “DOCCS filed violations of parole against Mr. Oliver in both cases. In both cases, DOCCS could not proceed with the violations due to the lack of evidence. The charges were ultimately dismissed both by DAs and DOCCS.”
Some 200 NYPD cops were out hunting for Oliver when he surrendered to cops at 7 a.m. Tuesday at the 77th Precinct stationhouse, police said.
He was transported to Kings County Hospital after allegedly becoming violent at the precinct — including by breaking a bench in a holding cell, according to sources.
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods, Georgett Roberts and Tina Moore