Thread: Reward offered in migrant camp vandalism case

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Reward offered in migrant camp vandalism case

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY ---- Immigrant rights groups in North County and San Diego County Crime Stoppers said Tuesday they will announce today a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone responsible for vandalism at the Rancho Penasquitos migrant camp that occurred in January.

The activists said they hope a tip stemming from the reward will help solve the case.

"What is really important to highlight is that the tips can be anonymous," said Claudia Smith, a migrant worker rights advocate with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.


Smith was among the first people to call attention to the case. Vandals allegedly ripped tents, blankets, clothing, shoes and other belongings at several makeshift migrant camps in the Rancho Penasquitos area.

Migrant workers, who toil in surrounding agricultural fields, construction sites and as day laborers have lived in the camps for decades. But residents in the area and anti-illegal immigration activists have recently complained about the camps, which they say create health, crime and other problems in the community.

Bill Flores, a spokesman for El Grupo, an umbrella group of civil and Latino rights organizations, said the alleged crime was no random act of violence.

"I believe that these victims were targeted because they were Latinos and believed to be illegal immigrants," Flores said.

San Diego police have searched a Rancho Penasquitos resident's home and the homes of two anti-illegal immigration activists in connection with the investigation, but no criminal charges have been filed in connection with the case.

The home of Jeff Schwilk, founder of the anti-illegal immigration group San Diego Minutemen, was one of the houses searched. Schwilk said Tuesday that he was not involved in the alleged vandalism and that the investigation has unfairly focused on him.

"I think it's a total witch hunt," he said referring to the investigation.

Several organizations, including the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, La Raza Lawyers Association and El Grupo, helped raise $9,000 for the reward. Crime Stoppers had previously offered a $1,000 reward.

Monica Munoz, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Police Department, said the case is still under investigation. She said reward money can sometimes help lead to more information.

"I don't know that anyone has done a study, but I would say that it (reward money) helps get attention to the case," Munoz said.

Tips to the Crime Stoppers hotline have helped solve about 3,500 cases in San Diego County since 1984, according to the group's website, www.sdcrimestoppers.com.

Smith said rewards have also led to information in cases involving migrant workers in the past, including an attack with baseball bats against migrants in an Alpine camp and the beating of several elderly farmworkers in McGonigle Canyon nearly seven years ago.

Representatives of El Grupo and other organizations are scheduled to present a check to Crime Stoppers outside the San Diego Police Department's headquarters in San Diego at 11:30 a.m.

Anyone with information can call the toll-free Crime Stoppers tip line at (88 580-8477.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

Claudia smith, you are a freak and you have been disbarred so QUIT PRACTICING LAW!
Pack your bags and take all your illegals back with you.