Rancho Cucamonga gang target of continuing county crackdown

San Bernardino County prosecutors took aim Friday at the Cucamonga Kings, seeking a court injunction that would make the Rancho Cucamonga gang the 13th in the county to be subject to severe restrictions.

Teams of law enforcement officers served copies of the injunction paperwork and other court-related paperwork to 30 suspected members of the gang during a predawn sweep in the city. Three people were arrested on suspicion of drug-related offenses.

The injunction sought by the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office represents an 18-month-long effort to crack down on the Kings' illegal activities - everything from burglaries and thefts to drug sales, assaults and murder, officials said.

It would bar Kings' members and associates from congregating in a designated safety zone and engaging in gang activity in the city.

"We're suing to seek an injunction to abate a public nuisance caused by a criminal street gang," Deputy District Attorney Mark Vos said.

He described Friday's effort as "very successful."

The Cucamonga Kings have 200 members and associates, whose territory stretches south of Arrow Highway between Haven and Archibald avenues in an area they call "Northtown," officials said. The hub of its territory, Old Town Park, is one of several areas included in the injunction paperwork.

As daylight broke the early morning darkness Friday, 11 teams of law enforcement officers from the Sheriff's Department, local police departments, county probation and state parole, knocked on doors at residences across Northtown.

At a home in the 8700 block of Ramona Boulevard, officers surrounded the residence to serve the paperwork. A man was patted down on the patio and brought to the front, while other officers woke up another man sleeping in a tent in the driveway.

Two reputed Kings' members were served there.

"This is a known gang house, and they're always around," said Deputy Oscar Godoy.
At a home in the 10100 block of 25th Street, a team of officers searched for contraband in a backyard filled with several vehicles, children's toys, couches, televisions, speakers. A 40-ounce beer bottle was on the ground. A few chickens ran free, dodging the officers.

In a red Chevrolet truck, deputies said they found a black plastic bag with baggies of suspected methamphetamine and a scale.

Robert Sandoval, who officials said was on probation, sat in handcuffs in an Oldsmobile in the driveway. His button-down shirt was open, exposing several tattoos across his chest and torso.

The Cucamonga Kings are "especially hateful and violent toward black persons who reside in the safety zone," according to a 20-page criminal complaint filed in West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga.

The gang's graffiti was spotted on park tables, in alleyways and on the ground at a flood-control channel that runs north to south through the safety zone. A small house that was converted to a barber shop on Main Street served as a King's hangout for a while, officials said.

Now the graffiti-ridden shop, with large holes punched through a wall, a ripped-up row of chairs inside and junk on the floor, sits unused.

The injunction being sought by prosecutors will prohibit Kings' members from congregating and loitering in the safety zone, essentially the gang's territory.

They would also be barred from intimidating witnesses, blocking public passageways and possessing, selling or using controlled substances.
The gang also would not be able to display its name, signs or symbols.

Included in the safety zone are two schools: Cucamonga Elementary School and Rancho Cucamonga Middle School. While the process service was under way, a school bus pulled into the parking lot at Old Town Park to pick up a large group of children waiting there.

District Attorney Michael A. Ramos reminded citizens that he declared war on county gangs in in 2005. Since then, many serious gang members have been convicted and sentenced to state prison for a total of thousands of years, he said.

Gangs and the public nuisance they bring to cities are a quality-of-life issue, said Ramos. The time has come, he said, to give citizens back their neighborhoods and parks.

"Battle by battle, we're going to take these (neighborhoods) back," said Ramos.

His office is already working on its next gang injunction.

"We're going to make sure these gang members are no longer a threat to our citizens," he said.

But not everyone agrees with prosecutors' push for an injunction. A woman who lived at a residence on Ramona Boulevard, where officers had earlier served paperwork, was critical of the plan.

"They're not a gang. We're all related," said Anita Ornelas as she came out of her house. "It's just not right."

Ornelas said she has lived in the area for 40 years and is a working, single mother. Deputies say they've known of her son's activities since he was 16. At age 20, he was arrested in connection with a stabbing.

Ornelas said her son now has trouble finding a job. Police, she said, should be after the younger guys.

Prosecutors acknowledge in the criminal complaint that the gang consists in large part of a "tight knit group of inter-related families and friends." But deputies say citizens have a choice not to lead a gang lifestyle.

The injunction paperwork includes 86 sworn declarations by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies, who detailed various acts they say have been committed by the gang.

A King's member shot and killed a rival gang member in 2005 at Center Street and Hermosa Avenue, they said. Two Kings were arrested in 2007 and convicted of stabbing a man five times at La Paloma Market, near Archibald Avenue and Main Street, they said.

Prosecutors are unsure exactly how long the court process will take to obtain a permanent injunction. Much of the time depends on whether any Kings' members contest it in court.

If the injunction is granted, the Cucamonga Kings would become the 13th gang in San Bernardino County to be barred from associating in certain areas, wearing gang clothing in public and displaying gang tattoos.

Injunctions, filed for either by attorneys in individual cities or by the district attorney, are already in place in Colton, Rialto, Adelanto, San Bernardino and Victorville.

The county already has injunctions against the following gangs:

San Bernardino

7th Street
Delman Heights Bloods
Sur Crazy Ones
California Gardens
Five Time Hometown Crips
Projects Crips
Verdugo Flats
Rialto

Hustla Squad Clicc
South Side Rialto
Colton

Colton City Crips
High Desert

Brown Pride, Adelanto
East Side Victoria, Victorville

dstrm300 wrote:I've heard of Villians before awhile bacc. And damn for 10 years already? Did it mention how many casualties between the 2?

Jae wrote:^^^^ For those that have doubted N.A.W. gang's activity, If you follow up on this article, you will find that law enforcement has mentioned that Cucamonga Kings and NAW gang have had shootouts back and fourth for almost 10 years. Just wanted to put that out there. They also verify a gang called "Empire Villians 13" in upland.

dstrm300 wrote:The naw in Cuca is the 66 boys clicc right? Or is it 2nd st? And just to confirm the other 2 cliccs are Center Park Naw and Tookay Naw in Fontana and O Town right?