CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER OF A FONTA OFFICER

Drop Out Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:08 pm

Jury decides ambush of officer premeditated
COURT: A gang member is convicted of attempted murder of a Fontana officer in Sunnyslope.

10:33 PM PST on Friday, January 23, 2004

By MIKE KATAOKA / The Press-Enterprise

RIVERSIDE - Jurors deciding a case involving the ambush in Sunnyslope of an off-duty Fontana police officer on Friday found a gang member guilty of several crimes that had stumped an earlier panel.

Abel Jose Blanco, 23, a head hunters street gang member was convicted of attempted murder in 2002, but jurors could not decide if the crime was premeditated. Nor could the jury agree on various gun and gang allegations.

In a retrial in Riverside County Superior Court, a new jury needed just two hours to tie up the loose ends.

Jurors found that the attempted murder was premeditated, that Blanco knew his cohorts were armed and that the attack on then-Cpl. Robert Ratcliffe was a gang activity.

On a night in May 2000, Ratcliffe had completed his shift at the Fontana Police Department, where he was assigned to the gang unit. Driving home through rural Sunnyslope, between Riverside and Fontana, he noticed that a car with three occupants was following closely.

When he stopped and identified himself as a police officer, one of the men approached him. Danny Marinelarena, 23, of Fontana reached into his waistband and, according to Ratcliffe's testimony, told him, "I've got something for you."

The officer then shot and killed Marinelarena. According to testimony, Michael Blanco, Abel Blanco's brother, also a member of the Head Hunters street gang, then got out of the car and tried to shoot Ratcliffe, but the gun jammed. With Abel behind the wheel, the Blanco brothers fled.

Supervising Deputy District Attorney Allison Nelson said the three assailants might have chosen their target at random, not knowing he was a police officer, but it was possible that they wanted to kill him because they knew exactly what he did.

Judge W. Charles Morgan set Abel Blanco's sentencing for Feb. 20. Nelson said Abel Blanco faces the possibility of 40 years in prison plus two life terms.

Michael Blanco, 21, was convicted of attempted murder and other charges and sentenced to prison for 108 years. The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside affirmed his conviction in September but ordered the trial judge to recalculate his sentence.

Nelson said that with the resentencing, Michael Blanco still faces the rest of his life in prison.

SFxSTONER Sun Jul 19, 2009 4:48 am

DICER wrote:Judge W. Charles Morgan set Abel Blanco's sentencing for Feb. 20. Nelson said Abel Blanco faces the possibility of 40 years in prison plus two life terms.

For driving? I'd say that's pretty excessive.

P_LOKO Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:15 am

Yeah, it's crazy man. They say if you were pretty much in the same car, you guilty as the one who did it. I know a few dudes who caught life just for driving. As long as the DA hits you with "For the benefit of a street gang"....you done for.