U.S. marshals are seeking a man accused of being a major player in a violent Northwest D.C. street gang.
Jermaine Woods, 25, is the last remaining high-ranking member of the Clifton Terrace University, or CTU crew, who has eluded authorities, U.S. marshals said.
Woods is the third and final co-defendant in a major, long-running investigation that has involved the slayings of multiple witnesses in the Clifton Terrace area, along the 14th Street corridor in Columbia Heights, said Robert Fernandez, head of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Woods is wanted for obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit witness tampering. His co-defendant, Azariah Israel, 33, was captured and charged last summer with four killings, a violent robbery and an attack in which he allegedly shot at a security officer. Israel was considered by D.C. police to be one the city’s most dangerous criminals.
“It’s a very violent crew that engaged in a systematic elimination of witnesses to cover up any information about homicides that they committed,” Fernandez said. “It was kind of a spiraling effect.”
The crew operated around 14th and Girard, but authorities believe the crew has been dismantled and is no longer functioning.
Woods is 6 feet 5 inches tall, 225 pounds, with a medium complexion, dreadlocks down to his shoulders and a tattoo of some sort of writing on his right upper arm. Woods has been seen around the Northwest D.C. area.
Anyone with information regarding Woods’ whereabouts is asked to call the U.S. Marshals Service at 800-336-0102. Law enforcement authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Woods’ arrest.
The Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, run by the U.S. Marshals Service, is comprised of 28 federal state and local agencies from Baltimore to Norfolk. The unit has captured 17,000 wanted fugitives since its creation in 2004.
