Recently in street gangs Category

La Eme connected Florencia 13 members were convicted Monday in a federal RICO case that included allegations of attempte murder, firearm violations and drug charges. A large component of the case rested on the gang targeting blacks, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice.

Here's the release:

Ten members and associates of Florencia 13 (F13), a street gang involved in narcotics distribution and shootings of African-Americans, were convicted today on a host of federal criminal charges, including racketeering and narcotics distribution.

The 10 defendants were found guilty today after a 3½-month trial. They are among 102 defendants named in four F13-related indictments that were returned by a federal grand jury in the fall of 2007. The investigation into F13, which was called Operation Joker's Wild, led to the largest gang takedown in American history, with 96 of the 102 defendants being taken into custody. Seventy-six of the defendants have now been convicted, either at trial or as the result of guilty pleas, with the remaining defendants pending trial.

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"The investigation into Florencia 13 demonstrated the power of law enforcement coming together to combat organized street gangs," said United States Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien. "This gang - which targeted African-Americans, whether or not they posed a threat to the gang's drug-trafficking operations - posed an imminent danger. As a result of this prosecution, the residents of South Los Angeles can live a little easier knowing that these dangerous gangsters have been taken off the street."

John A. Torres, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, stated: "We are very pleased with the verdicts today. This sends a clear message that the community will not tolerate the heinous activity perpetrated by Florencia 13. These convictions will go a long way toward reducing violence and returning peace to the neighborhoods."

Azusa PD and Baldwin Park PD officers took part in the operation, officials said.

PASADENA -- Authorities arrested nearly 90 people and seized a half-million dollars worth of narcotics during a multi-agency crackdown on gangs and drugs, police announced this morning.

Here's some stories we've been following over the weekend:

1. BALDWIN PARK -- City Councilman Anthony Bejarano was arrested late Friday on suspicion of being intoxicated in public.

2. VALINDA -- A Duarte man was jailed on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence Saturday following a crash that killed a 61-year-old Valinda man.

3. PASADENA -- A 16-year-old girl was shot in the leg Saturday while congregating with a group of other young women in front of an apartment building.

4 .BALDWIN PARK -- A 17-year-old boy showed up at a local hospital Sunday after he was stabbed but refused to tell police the details.

5. IRWINDALE -- A truck driver was robbed and shot Saturday as he dropped his truck off at a business at the end of his work day.

6. PASADENA -- A woman was arrested Sunday after allegedly attacking her boyfriend with a "The Club" steering wheel lock and vandalizing his car after discovering him at a motel with another woman.

This is a press release from Supervisor Gloria Molina's office. It came just two days after an emotional hearing before the Supes about the deaths of Good Samaritans who try to stop graffiti vandals throughout the county:

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina will join Lieutenant Gil Carrillo of the Sheriff's Department Homicide Division to publicize a $25,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the death of Luis Sandoval, a 71-year-old East Los Angeles resident who was shot in the abdomen after witnessing two males spray-painting graffiti on the side of a business located at the corner of East Olympic Boulevard and South Hicks Avenue. 

Mr. Sandoval had been riding his bicycle home and lived just four houses away from the scene of the crime.  Though the shooting took place on February 25, 2007, Mr. Sandoval died approximately four months later on June 13, 2007.  Authorities have since confirmed that his death was due directly to the injuries he sustained as a result of the shooting and are now asking for the public's help to solve this homicide--the third graffiti-related killing to occur in the First District.  (Robert Whitehead of Valinda was shot and killed in March 2006 while trying to stop graffiti taggers from spray-painting his neighbor's garage; Maria Hicks of Pico Rivera was shot and killed in August 2007 while trying to stop graffiti taggers from spray-painting a wall in her neighborhood.) 

Surviving relatives of Luis Sandoval will be available at tomorrow's press conference for interviews and pictures of the crime scene will be on display.
 
"Luis Sandoval was a hard-working, retired steel worker with a large family whose only transgression was being at the wrong place at the wrong time," Molina said.  "The anguish his death has caused his family is indescribable--and it is particularly painful to the community since it is the third graffiti-related homicide to take place in the First Supervisorial District.  It is my sincere hope that this $25,000 reward compels someone to bring information forward that will help us catch the people responsible for Luis Sandoval's murder."

This should make tomorrow's newspaper:

City officials have met to discuss the possibility of seeking a gang injunction. The idea's being talked about, but no decision has been made.

*Actually the injunction is already being pursued, according to Capt. Rick Miglia, who spoke at a city council meeting last week.

I got this letter from someone who identified himself as a relative of the man who was shot Sunday near Royal Oaks and Shamrock in Monrovia. The relative makes some interesting points about policing in Monrovia and the overall investigation. I've removed any identifying information. Letter on the jump:

In an editorial published in today's LA Times (h/t LA Observed), Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca says what many other politicans and cops have refused ot say:

So let me be very clear about one thing: We have a serious interracial violence problem in this county involving blacks and Latinos.

Some people deny it. They say that race is not a factor in L.A.'s gang crisis; the problem, they say, is not one of blacks versus Latinos and Latinos versus blacks but merely one of gang members killing other gang members (and yes, they acknowledge, sometimes the gangs are race-based).

But they're wrong. The truth is that, in many cases, race is at the heart of the problem. Latino gang members shoot blacks not because they're members of a rival gang but because of their skin color. Likewise, black gang members shoot Latinos because they are brown.

Mayor's son questioned in car theft case.

An unidentified person was detained at Mayor Ron Beilke's home Wednesday as part of an auto theft investigation, authorities said.

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Beilke said deputies questioned his 17-year-old son, who visited the same house as Sonny Costello, a 19-year-old transient, who is accused of stealing a 2002 Chevy Suburban on Tuesday night.

Monrovia plans outside investigation of claims against PD.

MONROVIA - Police Chief Roger Johnson said Wednesday that an outside agency would investigate sexual harassment allegations contained in a lawsuit filed against a Monrovia police officer.

Rudy Ramirez, 25, a former Monrovia jailer and member of the Monrovia police Explorer program, filed the lawsuit last month. He claims Sgt. Dan Verna sexually abused and harassed him beginning in 2000 while he was a minor until November 2006 when Ramirez was terminated by the department.

"Any of these allegations are going to be reviewed by a law enforcement agency independent of the Police Department to determine if there's been any wrong-doing," Johnson said.

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To bolster claims in his lawsuit, Ramirez states that Verna helped a suspected gang member, Salvador Parra, get released from Monrovia city jail on two occasions in 2006.

Sheriff's officials on Wednesday said a deputy saw Verna and Parra in 2006 inside of a parked car in Fish Canyon.

On patrol May 2, 2006, Deputy Mike Silva spotted the pair, authorities said. When he saw a gun in the car, the deputy detained Verna and called for backup, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Capt. Richard Shaw. 

Man shot and killed in Hacienda Heights.

Police responded to the 1100 block of Finegrove Avenue to reports of shots fired around 9:50 p.m., according to Deputy Aura Sierra of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

They found a Latino man, 30, with multiple gun shots wounds in his torso, Sierra said.

CHiPs OIS follow up; woman identified.

Two CHP officers patrolling the eastbound 10 Freeway just after 11 p.m. initially noticed the woman as she passed them in her car, driving at a high rate of speed, Dolson said.

The officers thought she might have been under the influence, so they pulled her over at Hellman and Garfield avenues, just off the freeway, Dolson said.

When one of the officers approached the vehicle, the woman pulled out the replica handgun, prompting the officer to fire one round, he said.

The fake handgun was later recovered at the scene, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Oscar Butao.

"It looked exactly like a righteous firing gun," Dolson said. "You would probably have to handle it and examine it for a short time to realize it wasn't real."

The sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the Monrovia Police Department by former jailer Rudy Ramirez adds fuel to a fire that seems to be consuming the All-America city.

At the beginning of the year, Monrovia found itself at the center of a gang crime spree that included 13 shootings which resulted in three deaths.

Then, a contract dispute between the city's police officers' association and the City Council turned ugly as rhetoric and accusations spilled out into blogs and TV newscasts. As part of its campaign, the POA wanted it known Monrovia was a very dangerous place to live and work. A town that lacks adequate policing.

Then came Ramirez's suit.

The case, filed at the end of May, claims Sgt. Dan Verna molested Ramirez when he was an underage Explorer in 2000. It alleges Verna harassed Ramirez up until 2006 - after the kid got a job as the city's jailer. Perhaps more explosively, it details the alleged release of a member of the Monrovia Nuevo Varrio gang from the city jail at Verna's request.

"Defendant Verna ... proceeded to release the prisoner, personally escorting him out the back door without charges being brought," the lawsuit, filed by former jailer Rudy Ramirez, claims. "The prisoner was a local gang member."

The suit also outlines a second event involving the gang member: "Verna (gave) advice to him about how to beat or get the charges lowered."

What?

Although few arrests have been made, police implicated Monrovia Nuevo Varrio in several of the assaults that occurred earlier this year. All the crimes had racial overtones that detectives believe stemmed from an ongoing prison dispute between black and Latino gangs.

Killed were:

Sanders Rollins, 63, in a drive-by shooting at 1234 Sherman Ave. in Monrovia on Jan. 13. Rollins, a black man, was getting out of his vehicle when a light colored Honda Civic drove by. The gunmen were described as Latino males.

Sammantha Salas, 16, a Latina, was shot to death outside an apartment building in the 2500 block of Peck Road in an unincorporated county area near Monrovia. Salas was killed on Jan. 26. The suspects have been described as two black males. A $10,000 reward has been issued in the case.

Brandon Lee, a 19-year-old black man, was shot while standing on the sidewalk in the 500 block of Almond Avenue on Jan. 29. The shooters were described as two Latino males.

Although things have quieted down, the gang warfare caught the attention of Attorney General Jerry Brown. As a result, he plans to hold a gang summit in San Gabriel on Friday. On the agenda: "Debriefing on Monrovia's recent gang violence."

Among those scheduled to speak is Monrovia police Chief Roger Johnson, named as a defendant in Ramirez's lawsuit.

For now, Johnson has only said an independent agency will examine Ramirez's allegations.

Perhaps Friday he'll explain why a Monrovia police officer allegedly released a gang member from jail and provided some sort of legal counsel to the young man. Perhaps he will also be asked about the billboards, that up until a couple of weeks ago greeted motorists entering the city.

You know, the ones that said: "Caution: You are approaching Monrovia. Higher violent crime. Fewer officers patrolling."

BALDWIN PARK - A spree of violence culminated in the drive-by shooting death of a Baldwin Park teenager in broad daylight Saturday.
The shooting victim, described as a 16-year-old Latino boy, was walking eastbound on Illinois Street between Kenmore Avenue and Idaho Street about 3:47 p.m. when a black, 1980s model sedan drove up and its occupants opened fire, said Los Angeles sheriff's Homicide Detective Jonas Shipe.
"He was struck multiple times and died at the scene," said Shipe, who refused to identify the victim until detectives spoke to his next of kin.
"It was a straight-up gang thing," said Shipe, adding the dead teen was affiliated with a gang.
The victim, who was identified by residents as Ruben Chavira, had been on his way to visit his girlfriend at her home in the 3800 block of Idaho Street when he was shot, said the girlfriend's sister, Veronica Martinez.
"He was a nice guy - I don't think he was involved with gangs," said Martinez, 27. "My sister knew him since fifth grade (at Kenmore Elementary School)."

There's a couple of things I covered in Tuesday's column that were vague and thought I pass the information on after doing some more "research."

First of all, the bookstore was City Lights on Vermont in Los Feliz. Great bookstore -- very tiny -- but an ecclectic selection of interesting titles. I've seen several interesting authors stop by to do readings and signings. It reminds me of the old Vroman's.

As for the magazines, the graffiti mag was titled UP. I just looked at it again and after reading the article with the LA graffiti photos, I realized the photos were all shot in the 1970s by a guy named Gribble (not Dale Gribble from King of the Hill).

Several of the photos are posted on Flikr here. There's also an interview with Gribble on Handselect.

Kevin Roderick over at LA Observed points out that NPR just completed a four-part series on Los Angeles gangs. Here's what NPR has to say:

Crime in America has been on the decline, but gang violence is increasing. Los Angeles has the most gang members per capita than any city in the world. This series zeroes in on the changing nature of Los Angeles gangs and the innovative tactics law enforcement is using to combat them.

Among the parts:

Targeting 18th Street

Using federal charges

Cops target shot callers

Crack down at MacArthur Park