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Altercation linked to rival gangs

JASON KOTOWSKI, Staff Writer
4/14/2005

KENNETT SQUARE -- A fight between members of rival Hispanic gangs Tuesday evening left three men wounded, one critically.

Kennett Square resident Jorge Cortez and two of his cousins were parked behind a mushroom house on East South Street when three men and a juvenile attacked them with a steel pipe, tire iron, knives and a baseball bat, police said. Three of the attackers are allegedly members of the Sur 13 gang, and the Cortezes are reportedly members of a rival gang called the Vikings.

Armando Cortez, one of the cousins, was seriously injured with a stab wound to the left side of his chest. He was airlifted to the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center in Wilmington, Del., where he underwent emergency surgery. He was listed in intensive care.

Alleged Sur 13 members Adan Lopez, Gonzalo Lopez-Castillo and Roberto Garcia-Nino were charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and related charges. Charges against the juvenile, whose name was not released because of his age, were not included in the police report.

The Cortezes and the defendants became involved in a verbal altercation around 6 p.m. in the area of Walnut and South streets, according to police. The Cortezes left the scene to pick up a friend on East South Street and were followed by the defendants.

The Cortezes stopped behind a mushroom house along the street, police said, and the defendants parked their vehicle nearby, according to reports.

Both parties left their vehicles. The defendants removed a steel pipe, tire iron and a baseball bat from the trunk of their green Mazda Rx7 and attacked the Cortezes, police said.

According to reports, Lopez-Castillo lifted a pipe to strike Jorge Cortez in the head. Cortez blocked the blow with his left arm but was subsequently hit in the head and fell to the ground in a daze.

Police said the defendants surrounded Armando Cortez and pounded him with a tire iron and bat. Sometime during the altercation he was stabbed in the chest.

Garcia-Nino stabbed Martin Cortez in the right leg with a tire iron, police said, and then struck him in the right kneecap. Garcia-Nino then dropped the tire iron, according to police, armed himself with a steel pipe and hit Martin in the ribs. Police said Garcia-Nino admitted to striking Cortez in the leg with an "unknown object."

Cortez suffered multiple contusions and a one-and-a-half inch puncture wound to his left leg.

The Cortezes managed to get back in their car and drive to the New Garden Shopping Center, police said. Upon arriving at that location, police found the Cortezes, suffering from various injuries and lying in or near the vehicle, according to reports.

The defendants were arrested near East South Street by members of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Kennett Square Police Department. They were arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Daniel Maisano.