A fugitive in a deadly lounge shootout drank his freedom away Monday, when police caught him boozing at Brooklyn’s J’Ouvert festivities after he’d spent more than a year on the run, authorities said.
Halie Cummings, 34, disappeared after firing off several shots behind the bar at Taste of the City Lounge in Crown Heights during a wild gang-fueled gunfight that left three dead and 11 wounded on Aug. 17, 2025, according to the feds.
Cummings is seen on video firing several shots after the mayhem began, according to the feds, though he’s not accused of striking anyone with his bullets.
On Monday, police found him drinking at the Crown Heights festival, celebrated before the annual West Indian Day Parade.
He was drinking alcohol when cops noticed him, and tried to run, then gave a fake name when police caught him, law enforcement sources said.
He’s slated to be arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday for a federal possession of a firearm charge, plus assault in aid of racketeering.
There’s no indication he was involved with any of the mayhem leading up to and during the West Indian Day Parade festivities, which left three people shot and three stabbed, none fatally, sources said.
Video released by federal prosecutors last year shows more than 40 shots fired in just six seconds at the Taste of the City Lounge on Franklin Ave.
The three dead include Brims gang member Marvin St. Louis, 19, who cops say sparked the shooting with a derogatory hand sign and the initial barrage of bullets, Folk Nation gang member Jamel Childs, 35, who returned fire, and Amadou Diallo, 27, who police believe was a bystander.
Most of the people shot were not involved in the gang beef, but three of them were Folk Nation members, cops said.
A total of 14 people were shot during the gunfight. Forty-two shell casings were recovered by police inside and outside the lounge.
Aug. 20, 2025: Caught in the crossfire
New York Daily News Front page of the New York Daily News for Aug. 20, 2025: Kin mourn bystander killed in Brooklyn lounge shootout between rival gang members. Amadou Diallo was killed in shooting Sunday at Taste of the City Lounge in Crown Heights.
The feds have charged two other men in the shooting, Elijah Roy, 25, and Timothy Spence, 21, both reputed members of the 5-9 Brims gang.
Spence, who pleaded guilty to assault in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, could face between 24 and 27-and-a-half years behind bars.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Police investigate a gang-related mass shooting at Taste of the City Lounge on Franklin Ave. in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Aug. 17, 2025. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
“On August 17, 2025, in Brooklyn New York, I fired a gun at members of a rival gang, Folk Nation, in a bar lounge,” Spence told Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Orelia Merchant. “I was a member of a rival gang, the 5-9 Brims Blood set. We protected our territory with violence, members sold drugs, and some did robberies. Me and other members shot at Jamel Childs, who was also shooting at us. The shooting was part of our beef with the Folk gang. I knew what I was doing was wrong and a crime.”