Seven people are facing a host of charges after a Hamilton police investigation into a string of recent violent crimes and robberies in the city, investigators say.

Police allege that the crimes were carried out by the same people operating in a group, but stopped short of calling it a gang — though at least one of the accused can be seen talking about a known youth gang on his Facebook profile.

Det. Sgt. David Beech told reporters Thursday that police started noticing a spike in robberies, break and enters and violent crimes in areas like the Mountain, east end and Stoney Creek beginning in August.

By November, police had launched a project they dubbed "Trail-Finder" to track down the people responsible, and they then arrested two men early in the month.

They're all associated with each other. Sometimes they're connected in committing offences. - Det. Sgt. David Beech

An 18-year-old man and a 22-year-old man from Hamilton were charged in connection with three street robberies, a break and enter on the Mountain and a home invasion where an 84-year-old man was home alone in November.

Police said a total of 27 charges have been laid against the two men.

On Facebook, one of those men facing charges posted a photo of a group of people in October with the caption "FREE MY F--KIN GANG MAN 100% 100%" and then the hashtag "BNA."

In a comment on the same post, the accused talks about "run in houses and Robbin."

Gangs mentioned during teen's slaying

BNA stands for "Black Native Association," a youth gang that gained attention locally after the death of 14-year-old Jesse Clarke in 2014.

Both BNA and another youth gang LOM (which stands for Loyalty Ova Money), were named in court during the hearing for Clarke's stabbing death. According to the agreed statement of facts at the trial, Clarke was with a group of people affiliated with the two gangs on the night he died.

After Clarke died, police said that those two youth gangs did not have the hierarchy and structure necessary to be viewed as a gang in the eyes of the courts.

"We don't have any information at this point that connects to any kind of gang, but we'll go where the information leads," Beech said about the new arrests on Thursday.

Several other people were also arrested in connection with the case. Police say that on Nov. 19, a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old were arrested in the area of Barton Street East and Lottridge Street in a stolen vehicle.

Both teens were charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and breaching their probation.

Parents also arrested

Then on Dec. 7, investigators carried out several search warrants on the Mountain and in Binbrook, as well as a business in the Hendershot and Rymal area.

Three more people were then arrested, and police recovered drugs, stolen property from break and enters around the city, and firearm ammunition.

"Police are unable to release the specifics of the property recovered as this is an ongoing investigation," a news release reads.

Several people were arrested and are facing charges including robbery, possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine, possession of stolen property, and possession of marijuana.

"They're all associated with each other," Beech said about the accused. "Sometimes they're connected in committing offences."

Noah Rabbani, 15, is recovering after being attacked with a baseball bat while walking home from a friend's house. (Rabbani family)

While five of the accused are in their teens or 20s, two others are much older — a 54-year-old man from Hamilton and a 62-year-old woman from Hamilton, who Beech said are the parents of one or more of the accused, though he would not specify who.

The parents were both charged with possession of marijuana and altering a vehicle's identification number, though Beech could not say if the vehicle was the stolen one the teens were found driving on Nov. 19.

Through all of these arrests, evidence led police to also charge one of the 18-year-olds caught in "project Trail-Finder" with aggravated assault and robbery in connection with the brutal beating of Noah Rabbani, who was attacked with a baseball bat while walking home from a friend's house late last month.

Beech could not say what exactly led police to connect the two incidents, saying it is "part of the investigation."

Beech did say that Rabbani's accused attacker did not know him or anyone in his family, though they did attend the same high school. Another suspect is still at large, police say.

After he was attacked, Rabbani's family questioned whether or not the incident was a hate crime, but Beech said police have not uncovered any evidence to support that theory.

adam.carter@cbc.ca