http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00869.html

'We're Scared Every Night'
Langley Park Attack Spurs More Patrols

By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 24, 2006; B01


Prince George's County police have increased patrols in the Langley Park area after a triple stabbing in an apartment there Saturday night, the latest in a violent wave of attacks the past few years that residents say has left the Hispanic immigrant enclave under siege.

As police continued to investigate the stabbing of three Hispanic men after an altercation at a party in a Kanawha Street apartment, residents of the community tried to continue with their Sunday morning routines. Crowds of shoppers strolled the sidewalks as street vendors lined the medians.

But the daytime bustle cloaked the fear some residents said is always with them in Langley Park, particularly on weekend nights when they said the influence of alcohol and drugs makes the streets seem more dangerous.

"It's very, very dangerous," Nilton Alonzo, 18, said as he tended to his stand selling Guatemalan steaks and other treats. His was one of many stands lining the grassy median dividing 14th Street yesterday, surrounded by garden-style apartments about a block from the scene of the stabbings.

"We're scared every night," Alonzo said. "They will kill you for everything."

About 7 p.m. Saturday, several people tried to force themselves into an apartment where a party was being held in the 1400 block of Kanawha Street. A fight broke out, and three men were stabbed.

The victims suffered multiple stab wounds in the upper body, said Cpl. Stephen Pacheco, a Prince George's police spokesman. Police expect the victims to survive, and they did not release the names, ages or addresses of the victims or possible suspects yesterday because an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The Langley Park area has been the hub of several violent attacks in the past few years. Although police have not determined whether Saturday night's stabbings were gang-related, many of the area's crimes have been linked to Latino street gangs.

One of the region's most deadly recent crimes occurred in neighboring Adelphi about three weeks ago. Assailants thought to belong to the gang called Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, fatally shot three men and wounded a fourth in the entryway of an apartment complex on a Friday night. No arrests have been reported in the Adelphi shootings June 30.

Last summer, in one of the area's most notorious crimes, two men were slain as they slept in a New Hampshire Avenue shopping center, about a half-mile from the location of Saturday's triple stabbing. An arrest was made in the shopping center slayings, but charges were dismissed this month in the middle of a trial.

To increase street patrols in the area, the police department has reassigned some officers who normally have administrative duties, Pacheco said.

"The chief is redeploying the officer personnel, so there's more visibility," he said. "That alone usually helps."

But some residents said they worry that increased police presence might not be enough to calm a neighborhood rocked by crime.

"My family lives there," Jesus Flores, 41, said as he stood under the umbrella of his chicken-and- taquito stand and pointed to the apartment building a few dozen yards away where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

"A lot of people die. It's just part of life," Flores said. "There's a problem. The police are lost in this area."

Still, some residents said they hope more police street patrols will help dilute their fears.

"The police need to give more security in this area," said Amilcar Vasquez, 32, a construction worker. "They come through one time, then five or 10 hours [later], and again. It's the same problem."

Vasquez said he locks himself in his apartment at night and does not venture out until dawn.

"The people are very, very scared. I think nobody should go outside at night," he said. "My feeling is something is bad."