Thread: Gang Connection Investigated In Birthday Party Melee

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Gang Connection Investigated
Violent Rivalry May Have Been Factor In Birthday Party Melee
October 25, 2005
By DAN UHLINGER, Courant Staff Writer EAST HARTFORD -- Police are investigating whether the bloody melee that erupted at a 1-year-old's birthday party over the weekend was fueled by a violent rivalry between two Central America gangs that has claimed dozens of lives.

As seven of those arrested posted bail, police released new details Monday of the brawl involving 50 adults at the Crosby Street multi-family house.

Witnesses told police that individuals involved in the chaos that spilled out into the street early Sunday were members of MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) and its rival, MS-18. One of the nation's most dangerous gangs, MS-13 has its origins in El Salvador. The gang took root in Southern California in the 1980s and has since spread throughout the country.

"We're looking into the possibility that it was related to a gang," Officer Hugo Benettieri, spokesman for East Hartford police said.

Police said the fight broke out shortly after midnight Saturday and when officers arrived several victims were bleeding and screaming hysterically outside the residence at 28 Crosby St. About a half-dozen people were stabbed or hit by beer bottles in the fight and were treated later for non-life threatening injuries.

Police said the birthday party erupted in violence when a first-floor resident went upstairs to the party to complain about noise.

MS-13 and MS-18, a Central American-based faction of the more well-known gang, are known for smuggling drugs and immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. In the latest violence between them, gang members in August attacked rivals with grenades at a Guatemalan youth detention center.

Last week, three suspected MS-13 gang members were arrested in Vienna, Va., after police tracked their activity between Los Angeles, Massachusetts and Virginia for five months. One of the men is wanted for an MS-13-related slaying in Massachusetts. All three are illegal aliens from El Salvador.

Kevin J. O'Connor, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said there have been no documented reports of MS-13 or its factions in the state, but its presence has been found in Rhode Island.

"We haven't seen any real visible signs here, but if they're in Rhode Island, it shouldn't surprise anyone that they can be found in Connecticut.

"MS-13 is one of the most active and violent gangs in the country," he said.

O'Connor said a federal task force involving law enforcement authorities in the state was organized earlier this year to combat gangs.

Windows were broken out of the bloodied upstairs apartment on Crosby Street where the party and fight occurred, and where authorities said 12 adults and eight children lived. Town officials were investigating whether local ordinances regulating the number of house occupants had been violated.

Police said one woman approached them and was hysterical, yelling that her 1-year-old baby whose birthday was being celebrated was inside. Police rescued the baby and found a knife near its birthday cake.

The woman pointed to several alleged assailants and said they were members of MS-18.

Two brothers, Erick Romero, 20, and Nelson Romero, 27, both of 699 Tolland St., were arrested on second-degree assault, risk of injury, reckless endangerment and breach of peace charges. They will be arraigned Nov. 9 in Superior Court in Manchester. The men are accused of stabbing another man.

Police searching the house also found three children hidden in the attic. The children were unharmed.

"They were shaking and crying," police said.

Several other children were found unharmed in bedrooms.

Police later questioned Nelson Romero, who said he was hit in the head with a bottle several times by several people. Romero identified Marlon Herrera, 22, of 30 Crosby St., as one of his attackers. Herrara was charged with resisting arrest and breach of peace. Romero identified Herrera is a member of MS-13. When questioned about his own alleged gang affiliation, Romero "smiled and shook his head no," police said.

Also arrested were Moises Morales, 24, of 47 Church St., charged with inciting to riot and breach of peace; Wilfredo Morales, 21, of 55 Church St., charged with inciting to riot and breach of peace; Juan Zelaya, 19, of 28 Highland St., charged with breach of peace; Ricardo Rodriguez, 23, of 30 Crosby St., charged with breach of peace. All are scheduled for arraignment Nov. 9.

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=4016947&nav=3YeX

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Multiple stabbings at child's birthday party

(East Hartford-WTNH, Oct, 23, 2005 6:00 PM) _ Six people were stabbed and 11 people arrested at a one-year-old's birthday party in East Hartford, police say.

"I was screaming. I saw blood on the floor, people falling down getting hit with bottles," says a woman who prefers to remain anonymous.

Instead of cake and ice cream, there were knives and bottles flying at a one-year-old's birthday party at an East Hartford home.

"Two guys were fighting over nothing. One got up and started punching. The other, for no reason, almost threw him out the window."

This woman, who does not want to be identified, lives on the first floor at this Crosby Street home.

The woman and about 30 others were at the party upstairs when the brawl started.

"The people upstairs had knives. Almost all of them had a knife. All the walls had blood on them. One guy was stabbed in the stomach," says the woman.

"As officers arrived, they encountered several people on the streets screaming, bleeding. There was a state of mass confusion," says Officer Hugo Benettieri, East Hartford Police.

News Channel 8 is told that there was a lot of chaos and blood when police arrived.

"We had car loads of individuals coming to the scene getting out of the vehicles and running into the scene, it was a state of mass confusion," says Benettieri.
"This happened while police were on the scene?" asks Tricia Taskey.
"Yes it happened while we were trying to sort out what was going on," says Benettieri.

Mark Rugar lives right across the street. He's not surprised how the night ended.

"Loud music, people throwing things out the window, people milling around outside. Not a place to park, there were so many cars on the street," says Rugar.

At least 6 people were stabbed. None of the injuries were life threatening and none of the children living here were hurt.

In all 11 people were arrested.

Police say most of the people involved only spoke Spanish and the language barrier added to the confusion.





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Child's Party Turns Bloody
October 24, 2005
By GREGORY SEAY, Courant Staff Writer EAST HARTFORD -- Blue and white balloons bobbed Sunday afternoon near the bloodstained entry of the multifamily house on Crosby Street, signs of a child's birthday party hours earlier that erupted into a melee that left six people stabbed.

Windows were broken out of the bloodied upstairs apartment where the party and fight occurred, and where authorities said 12 adults and eight children lived. An empty beer bottle was on the front lawn at 28-30 Crosby St., not far from a folding chair that police said was used as a weapon.

The fight broke out after midnight among about 50 adults, many of them party guests, neighbors and police said. Knives were pulled, including one that was found under a 1-year-old's birthday cake, police said.

Injuries to the six people who were stabbed weren't life-threatening, police said. Eight men were arrested.

Authorities said the altercation began after a first-floor neighbor went upstairs to complain about the noise, but police suspect gang activity may be involved. Investigators, aided by Spanish translators, interviewed eyewitnesses and suspects throughout the day Sunday, said East Hartford police spokesman Hugo Benettieri.

Today, police will meet with the local building inspector and the fire marshal about possible code violations with so many people living at the address, Benettieri said.

According to police, the first officers responding to the scene at 12:45 a.m. Sunday during a thunderstorm saw what one neighbor described as a TV script from hell.

Bloodied combatants were screaming in the street. Others were running to their vehicles. Amid the chaos, four carloads of men arrived to join in the fight, police said.

Midnight shift supervisor Sgt. Ed Perkins pulled up to see one person clubbing another with the folding chair in the middle of the street.

Extra East Hartford officers and detectives - some of whom were home in bed - and an on-duty Manchester officer who speaks Spanish were called in, authorities said.

While sorting through the scene, police ran out of metal handcuffs and used plastic cuffs to restrain suspects. Those handcuffs ran out, too, and more were brought to the scene, police said.

The East Hartford Fire Department and five Manchester ambulances also responded to treat the injured. A fire department spotlight trained on the house gave it an eerie look, one neighbor said.

"It looked like something you see on TV," said the neighbor, who did not want to be identified. "It looked like hell was coming."

The neighbor said the two-story frame house in the relatively quiet working-class neighborhood near Pratt & Whitney has stood out since the summer because of heavy traffic in and out.

Another neighbor, Mark Rugar, said he saw the cars lined up and down Crosby Street and adjacent King Court as he headed out to work at 11 p.m. Saturday. Rugar said he saw the open upstairs windows, heard loud music and saw adults milling in the front yard.

Rugar thought to himself: "This is a powder keg."

Hours after the fight, a man in the stairway landing of the upstairs unit declined to talk about the incident. The sound of broken glass being swept could be heard in the apartment.

Out back, a young man in a dark jacket with stitches on the right side of his chin and neck arrived with two more men. They also declined comment.

Police identified those arrested and charged as: Rene Rodriquez, 31, of Massachusetts; Wilfredo Morales, Ricardo Rodriguez, Jose Hernandez, Juan Zelaya, Marlon Herrera, Nelson Romero and Eric Romero.

Police did not provide additional ages or addresses, or specify charges. It was unclear whether any of the suspects lived at the house.

Rugar said he has lived in the neighborhood 15 years and knows many of his neighbors. He said he recently met the landlord of 28-30 Crosby St. and urged him to come around more often.

Rugar said he and his neighbors worry that the area is changing, but said he has no plans to leave and is even preparing to upgrade his own place.

"One bad apple ain't gonna ruin the neighborhood," Rugar said

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http://www.alipac.us/article-834-thread-1-0.html

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Chief: No Gangs Were At Party

Says Melee Still Under Investigation

By DAN UHLINGER
Courant Staff Writer

October 26 2005

EAST HARTFORD -- There are no organized gangs in town, Police Chief Mark J. Sirois told the town council Tuesday as his officers continued to investigate the brawl that ended a 1-year-old's birthday party over the weekend.

Several witnesses and suspects arrested in the bloody melee involving about 50 adults told police that some of the people involved were members of two violent Central American gangs.

Sirois downplayed the claims and said police would look at everything in their investigation of what he called "the donnybrook" at the multi-family house at 28 Crosby St., what caused it and why it escalated.

"We'll look at what factors contributed to the situation," he said later after addressing the council.

About a half-dozen people were stabbed and assaulted with beer bottles during the brawl, which broke out about 12:45 a.m. Sunday after a resident of the first-floor apartment went to the party on the second floor to complain about noise. No one was seriously injured. Seven people were arrested on various charges.

Sirois said officers are also trying to determine whether some of the people involved are illegal immigrants.

Witnesses told police that some of the individuals were from Central America and were members of MS-13 and its rival, MS-18. The "MS" stems from Mara Salvatrucha.

One of the nation's most dangerous gangs, MS-13 has its origins in El Salvador. The gang, known for smuggling drugs and immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, took root in Southern California in the 1980s and has since spread throughout the country.

Sirois said that even if some of the suspects turn out to be members of the gangs, that did not mean that there is an organized crime enterprise operating in town.

"We do not have an organized gang element in East Hartford," Sirois told the council. "There's no criminal enterprise going on."

Mayor Timothy D. Larson said before the council meeting that in his eight years in office he has not received any communication from local, state or federal authorities regarding gang activity in town.

"If we did have gangs, I'd be spending millions. I'd have the FBI and everyone else in here," he said.

Sirois said the Hartford area had a gang problem in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but a coordinated effort by law enforcement authorities resolved it.

"We do not have an organized gang element in East Hartford," Sirois told the council. "There's no criminal enterprise going on."

For those of you who aren't from New England, East Hartford is a classic slum/ghetto. It's easily one of the worst parts of New England, alongside with Bridgeport, Providence, and Dorchester. Saying that East Hartford has no organized gang element is indicative of the fact that the cop is scared to death of them.

"There's no criminal enterprise going on."

translate - "Nothing to see here, folks."

Stay tuned, Coming to a Neighbor Hood near YOU!

That chief is lying through his stinking teeth.

I've seen a lot of police departments practice the denial routine lately when these gangs are mentioned.

It happened down in Clayton NC just last week.


Nothing to see here folks. Gang problem? What gang problem?

W

"Birthday party" + shooting gives different (but "similar" if you know what I mean) results:

"Birthday party" + stabbing:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22birth ... CGGLR%3Aen
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highlights:

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1:9245624 ... ty~R~(News).html?refid=SEO

A Wheeling man was stabbed to death at a birthday party in Hanover Park Sunday, after a shouting match between members of the same gang turned violent, authorities said.
Hector Jimenez, 23, was stabbed twice in the chest and died later that day, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
An 18-year-old Carpentersville man also was stabbed but is recovering from his injuries, Hanover Park police said.
No one has been arrested, and police said they are interviewing witnesses.
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http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa ... -stab.html

Suspect arrested in stabbings at birthday party
Senta Scarborough
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 18, 2006 10:05 AM
Police arrested a 26-year-old Mesa man who they said stabbed two people at a Mesa birthday party in late February.

Vicente Artega Cruz was arrested at 8:20 a.m. Friday in Phoenix in the 6400 block of E. Sweetwater Avenue on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

On Feb. 26, Cruz and the two victims, Efrain and Hilario Cruz, were at a birthday at Hilario Cruz's apartment in the 600 block of South Stapley Drive.

Vicente and Hilario Cruz became "very intoxicated" and wanted to fight each other, police records show.

Efrain Cruz tried to prevent the fight and Vicente Cruz stabbed him twice in the chest with a knife. Cruz also stabbed Hilario in the upper torso. It was not clear whether the men are related. One of the victims was taken to a hospital for treatment.
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1247244

Sigh.....................

So often, the mass media fails to mention when illegals are involved.

Law enforcement lying to the citizenry is nothing new. For decades J Edgar Hoover declared there was no Mafia, no La Costra Nostra... no organized crime cartel going by any of those names.

Interestingly, research after Hoover died and the FBI entered the modern era, pictures were found of Hoover dressing up in sensuous female clothing.

Appears the Mob had the goods on Hoover during a time when gay-type folks had to remain in the closet.

It's a shame that so many of the law enforcement bureaucrats are lap-dog lackeys of their elite class masters. Not all but enough to make defending America from invasion more difficult than it should be.