Thread: PA: Cops: 2 beaten by Hispanic group

04/03/2007
Cops: 2 beaten by Hispanic group
By KEITH PHUCAS

NORRISTOWN - More than a dozen Hispanic men allegedly dragged two others from an East Airy Street house Sunday evening and beat them with clubs. A witness suggested the attackers were members of a Hispanic gang, according to a Norristown Police report.

A witness told police between 15 and 25 men, many wearing blue bandanas, showed up at the borough residence. When the victims answered a knock at the door, the group reportedly grabbed them and pulled them onto the sidewalk and beat them with "bats, clubs and pipes."

When police arrived at about 10:24 p.m., they found two men injured and bleeding. According to the police report, one victim sustained head and facial injuries, "his face swelling and covered with blood." The other bloody victim's eye was swollen shut.

Police interviewed several witnesses at the scene. One claimed the attack grew out of a custody dispute that occurred earlier Sunday in Norristown.

One of the alleged attackers was identified as belonging to Hispanic street gangs, Sur 13 or "Los Vatos Locos."

Sunday night, the two injured men were treated at the scene by Plymouth Ambulance medics and then flown by Pennstar helicopter to Abington Memorial Hospital.

One of the victims said a suspect went through his pants pockets and took $225.

Police are investigating the assault and robbery.

In an unrelated incident, an officer stopped a vehicle with gang markings, or "tags," painted on "all four sides" of the car Sunday afternoon, according to another police report.
Gerardo Salas Perez, 23, was arrested for an alleged immigration violation. Police contacted the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that requested Perez be detained.

Though gang tags are occasionally seen spray-painted on borough buildings, according FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams, Norristown does not suffer significantly from gang-related activity.

The same is true of Montgomery County and other suburban Philadelphia counties, she said.

"The FBI communicates (regularly) with the (Montgomery County) DA's office and local police to assess gang activity, and a this time, there's no indication there is a problem," Williams said.

http://www.timesherald.com/site/index.c ... 3380&rfi=8

"The FBI communicates (regularly) with the (Montgomery County) DA's office and local police to assess gang activity, and a this time, there's no indication there is a problem," Williams said.

I would think that being dragged from your home and beaten would be a problem.

They're evil, I say, evil

Originally Posted by txkayaker

"The FBI communicates (regularly) with the (Montgomery County) DA's office and local police to assess gang activity, and a this time, there's no indication there is a problem," Williams said.

I would think that being dragged from your home and beaten would be a problem.

Seems like a reasonable thought process on your part. I'm not entirely sure Williams has got it together, though.

My God! I used to live in the area back in the early 80's, between Philly, and Lncaster, and this was unheard of even in the city for the most part. Man how things have changed for the worst.