***
Darryl Whiting first entered the New York state prison system when he was 16. He did three years at Rikers Island Reformatory after he got caught in a stolen car. He reacquainted himself with New York prisons on June 24, 1976, according to the New York State Department of Correctional Services, after knocking over a store while armed with a gun. Whiting served six years of a 12-year sentence in various state pens and says he was released from parole on September 11, 1986.
Whiting was again holed up in Rikers Island from December 30, 1988, until February 3, 1989, according to a New York Correctional Services source, while awaiting trial on two separate charges: assault in the second degree and attempted murder in the second degree. On the first charge, according to a New York law-enforcement source, Whiting had been stopped by an undercover officer and allegedly assaulted him. He was acquitted on November 14, 1989.
According to Queens Country Court records and a New York law-enforcement source, the attempted-murder rap went down like this.
At about 7:30 p.m. on June 30, 1988, in the Corona section of Queens (Whiting's home turf and reportedly his major New York recruiting area), Whiting's reputed right-hand man tried to take down his wife, firing a number of shots but missing every time. After emptying his gun, he reportedly went to a car in which Whiting was sitting and got another piece -- an automatic pistol -- from Whiting. Again the guy's aim was off, leaving his wife enough time to flee. At the trial, the charge was dismissed by the judge. The reason, according to two sources: the wife refused to testify.
Whiting was also indicted twice in 1982, on a weapons charge and on the attempted murder of a police officer. He says he beat those raps, too.
***
In New York Whiting apparently learned a lesson in public relations. "He picked up a lot of tactics...in his time in New York," says one Boston cop. "A lot of these tactics are used by the Mafia. Which is, give back a little of what you make and, you know, they'll think you're great. Help the little old lady across the street, and they'll say, 'Isn't that wonderful.'"
On the streets of black Boston, Darryl Whiting is known as Ra-Ra (short for Whiting's Muslim name, Rasheem Allah), a/k/a Raw. The Robin Hood of Roxbury.
Shortly before Memorial Day 1989, posters hyping a Whiting excursion started appearing down at OP. SECOND EXODUS PRODUCTION PROUDLY PRESENTS ITS FIRST ANNUAL BUS RIDE TO RIVERSIDE AMUSEMENT PARK ON SUN MAY 28, 1989. THREE BUSES WILL BE LEAVING AT 7:30 A.M.... COME ONE, COME ALL, ALL WELCOME. FREE RIDES FREE LUNCHES. A $5.00 RAFFLE DRAWING WILL BE HELD AT APPROX. 8:30 P.M.... IN THE ORCHARD PARK HOUSING DEVELOPMENT. 1ST PRIZE WINNER WILL HAVE A CHOICE OF MICROWAVE, VCR, BICYCLE, 13" TV. 2ND PRIZE. 3RD PRIZE.
One source who went on the Riverside trip says Whiting fed everybody, paid their admission, and gave them spending money. And according to police and community sources, Whiting & Company's largess continued: basketballs, sweatsuits, sneakers, leather jackets, 10-speed bicycles, Honda motor scooters, barbecues, an Easter-egg hunt, a Christmas party with Santa and 250 free toys, trips to a New Jersey water park, Atlantic City, the zoo, the circus.
...
