Federal authorities appear to have begun to bring closure to a traumatic experience for former Houston Texans starting safety Jaylen Reed.
According to the Houston Chronicle’s John Wayne Ferguson, an FBI agent testified this week about an investigation that began with looking into the carjacking of Reed ahead of the Texans’ AFC Divisional Playoff loss to the New England Patriots.
It has ultimately led to the arrest of “as many as 15 people.”
“Former Texans cornerback Jaylen Reed was held at gunpoint inside his garage on Jan. 4. A group of three masked men took Reed’s SUV, and the vehicle was later located in north Houston, where the driver led police on a chase that ended in a crash,” Ferguson wrote on September 29, noting that police charged one man, Montreal Frye, in connection to the crime before later discovering that his brother–Jocquez Frye–was also “in the area” of the incident.
“An investigation into Jocquez led investigators into the world of a gang called YNS (short for Young [racial slur] Shooters).”
The news of Montreal Frye’s arrest is not new.
“The Texans player had reportedly just pulled into his garage when three masked men dressed in black confronted him and pointed rifles at him, according to court documents,” KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson wrote in January.
“Investigators say the suspects demanded ‘everything he had in the house,’ although available documents did not confirm whether or not anything from inside the home was taken.”
Wilson noted at the time that authorities arrested Frye in connection with the crime.
“The arrested suspect was identified as Montreal Dwayne Frye, 20,” Wilson wrote. “He is charged with felony evading arrest or detention with a vehicle and felony unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, according to Harris County court records.”
Wilson also added Frye had a “$500,000 on each charge” for a total of “$1 million,” and that he remained in police custody.
The situation goes much deeper than Reed and the lone carjacking, though.
Up to 15 People Arrested After Former Texans DB Jaylen Reed Armed Robbery Investigation
Per Ferguson, YNS is “a group of Greenspoint-area rappers who frequently bragged on social media about committing crimes.” That led investigators to set up an intricate sting operation. It included a music producer for a confidential informant, bait cars, and fake stash houses.
Authorities arrested members of the group amid what they believed to be a robbery for drugs.
The Texans moved on from Jaylen Reed this past preseason. They sent him to the New England Patriots in a trade for Kayshon Boutte.
Clearly, though, his ties to the area still loom large. Authorities are still sorting through the case. It has also garnered some pushback about the methods used to justify the arrests. Defense attorneys argue that the accused–all 20 years old or younger–were lured in with false promises.
Federal agents, per Ferguson, argue that the carjacking justified further investigation.
From there, it was a matter of following Frye and YNS’ own social media posts. The staged operations aimed to keep YNS from harming the public, according to the report.
FBI Makes Arrests After Armed Robbery Involving Former Texans Player