Burly and intimidating was the way Reggie Brown was once discribed, calculating, cold and unforgiving are terms which also apply to this once powerful leader of an eastside drug gang responsible for countless deaths during the mid to late '80s. While Reggie Brown did not create Best Friends, it was his deeds that led to the organizations fierce reputation on the bloody streets of Detroit. While Best Friends was a drug gang headed by Richard "Maserati Rick" Carter and his best friend Demetrius Holloway, Reggie rose to prominence as the leader of the gangs enforcement arm known as the wrecking crew. Best Friends was formed by legendary drug dealer Maserati Rick Carter in 1985 after a series of battles with rival drug dealers cut into his ability to concentrate specifically on business.
In an effort to rectify this situation, Carter approached Reggie "a man known for his propensity for violence," with an offer of protection. Carter would finance the formation of a security team in which Brown would direct it's movements on behalf of Best Friends drug wing. Brown agreed and began recruiting a crack team of shooters who were outfitted with high powered assault rifles, automatic pistols, body armor and bullet proof vests paid for courtesy of Carter, Holloway and teenage drug sensation White Boy Rick Wershe. Reggie's recruiting efforts started close to home where he counted his 3 brothers Ezra "Wizard", Gregory "Ghost" and Terrance "Boogaloo" as his closest aides.
Up to this point Reggie was the only one of the Brown brothers known as a potential threat to do great bodily harm with the others picking up arrest on relatively sedate charges like auto theft and possession of maurijauna with intent to distribute. All of that would change in short order as the Browns took up arms on behalf of Best Friends defending the gangs territory with a vicious fervor which met the approval of their flashy financier Maserati Rick. With Reggie leading the charge, Best Friends fortunes soared and soon were regarded amoung the elite traffickers in Michigan along with oganizations headed by the Davis Family, Young Boys and the Chambers.
Casualties of War
Less than a year after it was founded, the wrecking crew was the most feared enforcement arm in the Detroit underworld taking on upstart groups like Pony Down and small but well run operations by former clients of Carter's like Big Ed Hanserd and James Lamont. During the course of these battles, allies were loss none closer or more devastating to Reggie than the loss of his two younger brothers Ezra and Gregory within a week of one another in December of 1986. The death of Ezra and Gregory did nothing to deter the two remaining brothers from continuing along the path of violence which had caused their loss but instead seemed to light a fire which would rage out of control for the next 7 years.
A Murderous Spree
Reggie was tried and acquitted for the September '86 murder of 19 year old Carlton Journey and the wounding of Pamela Brown. Investigators also named him as the prime suspect in the shooting of William Miles in May of 1987. This attack also claimed the life of Kirt Levy a 25 year old member of a rival gang. Rockn Reggie was acquitted of all charges in relation to this shooting as well. With all of the attention brought on by the rash of killings, Reggie continued his torrid rampage killing an associate of White Boy Rick Wershe a teenage kingpin after a business dispute.
Steve Roussell Murder
Friends nor associates were exempt from retribution when Reggie Brown's wrath was incurred. This lessen was demonstrated in the case of Steve Roussell. Roussell was a close friend of White Boy Rick Wershe and was at the very least familiar with Reggie Brown and his reputation. Roussell and Brown had a disagreement during a cocaine deal which led to Brown administering a vicious beating upon Roussell.
: This altercation led to Brown being placed on probation. Unsatisfied with the results of the altercation, Reggie struck once more in the early mourning hours of September 12, 1987 in a house in the 13600 block of Glennwood. Brown according to statements given by Patrick McCloud shot and killed Roussell as he slept in the home connected owned by Rick Wershe Jr. According to McCloud he was sleeping in the living room when he was awakened by the sound of gunfire and saw Reggie shooting Roussell.
: McCloud was himself shot in the back as he attempted to flee the room. Brown was arrested, tried and later convicted "April 29, 1988" of second degree murder for the Roussell shooting. The jury needed only 2 1/2 hours to reach it's decision. The exact cause of the second rift between Roussell and Brown has not been determined but it can only be sumissed that money was not the issue as officers called to the scene of the shooting found a safe filled with $30,000 in cash in a room on the second floor. Authorities believed they had rid themselves of Reggie Brown when he was sentenced to life in prison on May 20, 1988.
: The life sentence imposed on Reggie Brown robbed Best Friends of their most intimidating enforcer and signaled a weakening of the once mighty organization to it's competition. Just four months after Reggie was shipped away, Maserati Rick was struck down as he lay recovering from a previous attempt on his life in Mt. Carmel Mercey Hospital on September 12, 1988. Carter had been engaged in open warfare with an upstart dealer known as Big Ed. Edward Hanserd emerged victorious from the fray with the successful elimination of the flashy Carter.
The Return
Reggie Brown made a shocking return when he managed to have his murder conviction overturned on appeal in February of 1989. Released on bond by Magistrate George Crockett III, Brown returned to the streets intent on establishing himself in an increased capacity in Detroit's drug world. Reggie's operation had continued to operated under the direction of his younger brother Terrance who had himself undergone a transformation and was now feared almost as much as his older brother. Reggie wasted no time in declaring the wrecking crew independent of the remnants of Best Friends.
While he remained on good terms with Demetrius Holloway the new leader of Best Friends, Reggie sought desperately to carve himself a larger piece of the pie dominated by organizations like the Chambers Brothers, DFG and his own Best Friends. An increase in violence between Best Friends and other groups trying to administer the knock out blow caused an uproar amoung law enforcement agencies and officials who attributed the influx in violence to Brown's return to action. Reggie's bond was quickly revoked but he disappeared before authorities could locate him. While on the lam, Reg struck against one of his own who was considering a prosecution deal against his younger brother.
4 More Murders
: Alfred Austin was a member of Reggie's revitalized Wrecking Crew participating in the gangs expansion efforts. Austin had recently been charged with federal weapons violations in Kentucky. Authorities offered him a plea deal in exchange for information against Terrance Brown. In what has been discribed as a misguided show of loyalty, Austin told one of the Brown's about the offer and returned to the gang's fold in good graces.
Or so he thought. On Saturday May 9th, fugitive Reginald Brown walked up to a home on Buckingham street exchanging greetings with several people before opening fire on Austin as he sat conversating with 2 men on the porch of his home. Brown then turned his pistol on 24 year old Harry Roper and 23 year old Lawrence Gainey. During the shooting 3 year old Lori Roper was struck and killed by a stray bullet. George Ward chief assistant to the Wayne County Prosecutor announced "we want him pretty bad...There are four people dead--We are talking about mass murder here." While no volunteered information "outside of those wounded in Brown's previous rampages," the death of 3 year old Lori Roper emboldened several witnesses to come forward and identify Brown as the perpetraitor of the attack.
An arrest warrant signed by Magistrate Richard Halloran of the 36th District Court was issued Thursday May 14, 1992 chaging Brown with 4 counts of 1st degree murder. It would take investigators 13 months to locate the fugitive, but Reginald Brown was taken into custody as he attempted to get into a car in Manhatten. Authorities also spotted his brother Terrance "also wanted on a seperate murder charge," but were unsuccessful in apprehending him after a motorcycle chase which included Brown striking a pedestrian before escaping into a subway tunnell. Reggie Brown was returned to Detroit where he faced a possible death sentence for the 4 murders.
The death sentence was dropped by the prosecutors office but Brown was convicted and sentenced this time to serve 4 life sentences in prison. Reggie Brown remains incarcerated and his younger brother Terrance was killed in a drug deal gone bad less than two months after Reggie was apprehended. Best Friends decimated by death and the efforts of law enforcemnet, was eventually elbowed aside with Brown and Wershe serving life sentences, Boogaloo Brown, Maserati Rick Carter and Demetrius Holloway all murdered in the street, Best Friends is no longer considered an active force in Detroit's drug trade.
