Gang member arrested in killing of dad, 2 sons
Gang member arrested in killing of dad, 2 sons
Jaxon Van Derbeken,Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday, June 26, 2008
(06-25) 21:33 PDT San Francisco -- A member of a notoriously violent street gang was arrested and booked Wednesday on three counts of murder in the shootings of a San Francisco father and two sons in the city's Excelsior district that police believe stemmed from a minor traffic incident, authorities said.
Edwin Ramos, 21, of El Sobrante was arrested at 12:05 a.m. at his home on the 4300 block of Hilltop Drive in the Sunday slayings of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, authorities said. At 5 p.m., he was booked on the murder charges.
Police recovered a machete, an assault pistol and knives at the time of the arrest, but they have not found the weapon used in the shooting.
At an evening news conference to announce the arrest, police said Ramos is a member of a violent street gang but would not specify which organization.
"I believe he is, I think he would admit that he is a gang member," said Inspector Brian Delahunty of the homicide detail. Police sources confirmed his membership in the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), which law enforcement officials consider one of the most dangerous street gangs in San Francisco and the country.
The jailed man has denied to police that he killed the Bolognas, authorities say.
The suspect's attorney, Joe O'Sullivan, said his client is a construction worker who is married to a bank worker and is the father of a young child.
He had a minor criminal record as a juvenile and was arrested in San Francisco a month ago on a weapons possession charge, but the case was dismissed after the district attorney's office found there was not enough evidence to tie him to the weapon, authorities said.
O'Sullivan said his client, who goes by the last name of Escobar, is a member of MS-13, an organization whose members contend is "nothing more than a soccer group."
Law enforcement authorities, however, consider MS-13 a sophisticated street gang with roots in El Salvador whose members are known to use high-powered weapons and even machetes and have been tied to everything from street extortion in San Francisco to firearms trafficking.
O'Sullivan said his client was a friend of the former head of MS-13 in the city, Luis Fuentes, who was killed at 24th and Hampshire streets on June 26, 2004. Fuentes was described in the trial as the "shot caller" for the gang in San Francisco. His convicted killer, a Norteño street gang member, was represented by O'Sullivan and another lawyer.
Ramos, O'Sullivan said, is soft-spoken and deferential.
"It sounds like the people who were victimized were lovely people, (and) it looks like the police could be jammed up to make an arrest," O'Sullivan said. "He's a fine young man. This is aberrational, totally out of character.
"It's a tragic case," he said.
Ramos was taken in during an early-morning raid at a home on Hilltop Drive in El Sobrante where he lived with Amelia, 20, his wife of several years.
The couple have an 11-month-old daughter, Jasmine, said Rosa Martinez, the suspect's mother-in-law, who shares her home with the couple.
"I had no idea, honestly," Martinez said of Ramos' alleged involvement in the shooting over the weekend. "I feel so sorry for that family," she said of the Bolognas.
Martinez said she knew little about her son-in-law other than he worked at City Auto Supply in South San Francisco.
She said she warned her daughter, who has attended Contra Costa College in San Pablo, not to marry a man she believed was a gang member.
"I told her I didn't want her to marry a gang member, that she was making a terrible mistake for the rest of her life," Martinez said.
A search-warrant affidavit for Martinez's home gave police the authority to search the premises for a bloody T-shirt, a white baseball cap, a brown sweater and a blue and gray sweater.
A list of items taken from the home showed that police took cell phones, identification cards, a machete, knives and the assault pistol. Martinez said - and authorities confirmed - that police also took away the suspect's new Chrysler 300.
Martinez and her family spent much of the day Wednesday cleaning up after the police raid of her two-story home in a modest neighborhood of the unincorporated Contra Costa County town. The home is on a main thoroughfare just off Interstate 80 that runs along the El Sobrante-Richmond border and is near Rolling Hills Memorial Park and Hilltop Mall.
At the news conference, Chief Heather Fong offered condolences to the family and thanked the community for its help. She said the case was broken after a man arrested by patrol officers identified Ramos as being involved in the shooting, police said.
The Bolognas were on Congdon Street in the Excelsior just after 3 p.m. Sunday, driving home from a barbecue in Fairfield, when they inadvertently blocked another car from completing a left turn onto Congdon from Maynard Street, police said.
The shooting occurred after the elder Bologna backed up and let the car by, police said.
Tony Bologna, the night shift supervisor at a San Mateo grocery store, and Michael Bologna, a student at the College of San Mateo, were pronounced dead at the scene. Matthew Bologna, who attended Lincoln High School, died Tuesday night at San Francisco General Hospital.
The family has established two accounts for contributions. One is the Anthony Bologna Children's Fund, No. 934-426443-9, c/o Washington Mutual Bank, 845 Laurel St., San Carlos, CA 94070.
For the other account, checks can be made payable to the Bologna Family Fund, c/o Wells Fargo Private Client Services, Mac No. A0101-071, 420 Montgomery St., seventh floor, San Francisco, CA 94104.
E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.
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No bail for suspect in killings of man, 2 sons
No bail for suspect in killings of man, 2 sons
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 28, 2008
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Suspected gang member Edwin Ramos, seen here with his wife Amelia at a party, was arrested and booked on murder charges. Photo courtesy of Rosa Martinez
(06-27) 14:33 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The man charged with murdering a San Francisco father and two sons during a traffic incident appeared in court Friday and listened quietly as he was ordered held without bail.
Edwin Ramos, 21, of El Sobrante is charged with three counts of murder and other crimes in the slayings Sunday in San Francisco of Tony Bologna, 48, and sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16.
He appeared shackled at the waist in a jail jumpsuit, a large tattoo of the Salvadoran national crest visible on the back of his closely shaved head. Ramos is a native of El Salvador.
He spoke only once during the proceeding before Judge Henry Ramsey in San Francisco Superior Court, saying "yes" when asked whether Edwin Ramos was his true name.
The three murder counts carry special circumstances of multiple murder and murder as part of a street gang, which both carry the potential of life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty.
Police say Ramos is a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, but authorities have not said how the killings were gang motivated.
District Attorney Kamala Harris has previously said she would never seek the death penalty, and she has not done so since taking office in 2004. Tony Bologna's widow, Danielle Bologna, has urged her to seek capital punishment in this case.
Harris, who was not in court Friday, has set up a process in which prosecutors meet to determine whether to seek the death penalty. Typically, prosecutors take several months before declaring that they will not seek capital punishment.
The district attorney established that system after being criticized for taking just days after an arrest in the 2004 slaying of police Officer Isaac Espinoza to rule out the death penalty for the suspect. David Hill was eventually convicted of murdering Espinoza and sentenced to life without parole.
Outside court Friday, Assistant District Attorney George Butterworth had no comment on what sentence prosecutors might seek for Ramos if he is convicted.
The killings happened when Tony Bologna blocked a car making a left turn in the Excelsior district Sunday afternoon while he was driving home from a family picnic. The killer opened fire after Bologna backed up to let the other car past, authorities say.
Ramos' attorney, Joe O'Sullivan, said outside court that "an innocent family was murdered. That doesn't mean he did it."
He said Ramos is "quiet, unassuming, pensive. ... He's overwhelmed."
Ramos is scheduled to enter a plea July 3.
Ramos' immigration status has become a side issue in the case. O'Sullivan says Ramos is in the country legally and has applied for permanent residence here. Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Friday that the agency has sought a hold on him, pending the outcome of the case. She did not dispute O'Sullivan's assertion that his client had applied for citizenship after marrying a U.S. citizen.
She said that if Ramos is convicted, he will be deportable.
E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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