Thread: CA: Industry third in gang-related murders in 2006

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5011718

Industry third in gang-related murders in 2006
By Ruby Gonzales, Staff Writer
01/14/2007 01:21:13 AM PST

For the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Industry Station, 2006 was a year of murder.

The station reported 31 homicides for the year, 24 of them gang-related. That put the station third in gang murders behind crime-infested areas patrolled by the sheriff's Compton and Century stations.

Though county gang murders declined by 16.66 percent year-over-year in areas covered by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, from 228 in 2005 to 190 in 2006, the Industry Station saw a large spike. Industry's gang-related homicides, a term used when the suspect or the victim is a gang member or has ties to gangs, doubled from 12 in 2005. The station had averaged 11.6 murders per year from 2001-2005.

Violence has erupted before in the 65 square miles covered by the Industry Station. The area encompasses La Puente, Industry and La Habra Heights, plus the unincorporated communities of Hacienda Heights, Bassett, Avocado Heights, North Whittier, Valinda, East Valinda and West Valinda.

Lydia Delgado, an East Valinda resident since 1955, said she saw the signs that indicate trouble, more graffiti and more young people out at night.

"There's always a lot of gang activity," Delgado said. "Always has been."

Malcolm Klein, professor emeritus of sociology at USC and an expert in street gangs, said low-income or working class and segregated communities have always attracted gang membership. The Valinda Corridor, where 17 of the murders happened, is mostly Latino with the median household income $49,641, according to county officials.

The lack of community protest, Klein said, is no surprise.

"What has outrage done in the long run for a minority community?" he said.

It may lead to numerous meetings where the police and various groups talk, Klein acknowledged. But eventually everyone goes home. He suggests spending money in the community to create job opportunities.

Deputies pointed to two rival gangs, Bassett Grande and Puente 13, as the main culprits for nearly half of the killings. The two are blamed for six of the killings and are suspected of being involved in eight others. Faction of Puente and other gangs are suspected of the other murders.

Historically, Latino gangs claim neighborhoods in La Puente, Hacienda Heights, Bassett, Valinda, East Valinda and West Valinda, and there are 1,903 documented gang members in the station's area, according to officials.

The biggest gang is Puente 13 with 732 members, followed by Bassett Grande at 368.

The difficulty in stopping gang violence may only be exceeded by trying to figure out why it happens at all.

Police said that the reasons for the killings are sometimes unique but almost always random, whether it is a chance meeting on the Web site Myspace.com or the freeways, with the only common link that someone dies.

"Some of this is mere happenstance - one guy disrespecting the other. Some of these are rivalry-based," said Lt. George Zagurski of the sheriff's Operation Safe Streets Bureau, which is the department's gang unit. "A lot of it is random acts of violence committed by people into violence."

Industry Station Capt. Mike Smith said there are 1,200 to 1,600 gang members in the areas they patrol, with another estimated 1,000 gang associates. Then there are gang members from other communities who show up for whatever reason.

The chances of solving gang murders are slim, officials say. Only six of the 2006 murders have been solved. One man has been convicted, and nine other men are in custody.

"You're walking down the street. You have nothing to do with gangs. A car with gang members drives up, and they ask you, `where you from?"' said Capt. Ray Peavy of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau. "There's no answer to that question. They shoot you and drive away."

The first gang-related death in 2006 occurred Jan. 10 on a La Puente street. Roberto and Alfredo Huazano were riding a bicycle and turned on Molinar Avenue. A man got out of a Ford Explorer, ran across the street and asked them where they were from, according to Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd. The man then shot the teens several times.

Dodd said Roberto Huazano, 16, almost reached the front porch of a nearby house. He died at the scene. Alfredo, 15, was left paralyzed from the waist down.

By June, out of 16 homicides, 12 were gang-related.

Smith said the department implemented a plan in June to deal with the increased gang violence. The plan included putting more deputies on the streets, conducting checks of those who are on parole or probation and deployed special units like gang and narcotics.

By Dec. 23, deputies had contacted 594 documented gang members and associates, made 409 felony arrests and 1,685 misdemeanor arrests, issued 874 traffic citations, impounded 351 vehicles and recovered 69 firearms. They also conducted 136 probation and parole searches.

Gang-related murders slowed after deputies saturated the area during the summer.

The last gang killing for 2006 was the Oct. 19 shooting of a motorist in Valinda, according to deputies. Detectives said three murders in December weren't gang-related.

But seven days into the new year, the nearly three-month calm was shattered. After a fight broke out between rival gang members in Bassett, shots were fired. Five were wounded, but an Ontario man, Marcel Johanny Leal, newly married and trying to leave the gang life, died in the street.

"You know what was something else?" said Fletcher Johnston, who saw Leal's body. "People were walking up with their camera phones and taking a picture of him."

We have gang problems as well in Miami and had a record number of gang related homicides. Groups can get together and talk all they want but talk is cheap. They need to look at the entire picture and many of them refuse to do so as it is politically incorrect and people scream racism.

If gang activities continue to grow like this, more and more Americans may likely take matters into their own hands, or more of them will be armed when going outside.
It will be as if we're watching the old Charles Bronson movies "Deathwish" because Americans will only take so much!
I can't blame them one bit. We have voilent gang rivals between Asian and hispanic gangs here in Salt Lake. Not too many nights go by you don't hear about a gang rival driveby.
Me personally, I always go strapped when we go out, and especially in certain parts of Salt Lake valley because like many states, the illegal population is out of control and unsafe to be in at night.

I personally think that the Florida law regarding using guns in self defense if you feel threatened has to do with the gangs. There has been shoot outs involving gangs in broad daylight. Some of them have been like stuff out of the movies where innocent bystanders have been shot and even killed.