Old L.A. Times/SB Sun/Press Enterprise articles - post them here

Bad Rap? : Despite Crime Image, L.A. Fails to Make List of Worst 15 Cities, but San Bernardino Does
May 25, 1994|MILES CORWIN and TOM GORMAN | TIMES STAFF WRITERS


Los Angeles residents may be shellshocked by drive-by shootings, carjackings andhome invasion robberies, but the city's reputation as one of the lawlessness leaders of the Free World apparently does not meet the reality.

At least that is the conclusion of a Money magazine study that ranked the 15 most dangerous cities in the country. Los Angeles didn't make the cut.

Police officials, however, said they were not surprised.

"We've had some extremely violent crimes grab the headlines, but the fact of the matter is crime has not gone up over the past year or two," said Los Angeles Police Lt. John Dunkin of the press relations office. "It's not as dangerous a city as it's been portrayed."

Because the Money magazine rankings are based on violent crimes per 100,000 residents, a number of small cities are listed as being more crime-plagued than the nation's more notorious homicide leaders.

San Bernardino, with 96 homicides last year, is ranked in the study as the sixth-most-dangerous city in the country. New York City, with about 2,000 murders, was 22nd.

There is more crime news emanating from the nation's largest cities, criminologists contended, but not necessarily more per capita crime than smaller communities.

"Because of the gang situation, the crack explosion and the riots, the public perception of Los Angeles is distorted," said Malcolm Klein, a USC sociologist who has written extensively about street gangs and crime. "There's no reason to think L.A. has worse violent crime problems than most other major cities."

But Los Angeles residents should not take too much comfort in the findings. The city just missed the bottom 15 with a rank of 17th.

Although Los Angeles ranks behind a number of cities in per capita crime, in absolute numbers the city still is among the nation's leaders. With almost 1,100 homicides in 1993, Los Angeles ranks No. 2 in the country for murders.

Although many were surprised by Los Angeles' ranking, San Bernardino residents say they have known for some time about crime problems there.

Steve Filson, president of the San Bernardino Police Officer's Assn., said the crime statistics are not lost on local police. More than 70% of the city's police officers live outside the city.

"I hear from people on the street all the time, saying, 'Hell, we moved from Los Angeles to get away from all this crap, and it's following us out here,' " Filson said. "We've had LAPD officers on ride-alongs with us who say our activity level is worse than what they see in Los Angeles."

The study only tracks crimes within city limits, so it does not give an accurate representation of a metropolitan area such as Los Angeles, Klein said. Areas such as Lynwood, Inglewood, Compton and sections of what is considered East Los Angeles--which are in an unincorporated area of the county--were left out of the Los Angeles survey area.

The magazine proclaimed Irvine as the nation's safest city, among cities with populations of more than 100,000. And five other California cities are among the nation's 15 safest in terms of the violent crime rate, the magazine reported. Simi Valley ranked fourth, Sunnyvale was fifth, Thousand Oaks was 10th, Rancho Cucamonga ranked 11th and Glendale was 15th.

The Money magazine study, published in its June issue, cites FBI statistics and the magazine's own research to debunk various myths about how bad crime is. It noted that despite public perception, a person's chance of being a victim of crime is 9% less than it was in 1981, based on national statistics.

The survey was based on an analysis of the FBI's 1993 crime statistics.

The magazine added up the incidents of four violent crimes--homicide, rape, burglary and aggravated assault--and listed them per 100,000 residents. The magazine said residents living in such reputation-sullied cities as Detroit, Chicago, Washington and Oakland were in fact less prone to be victims of violent crime than people living in San Bernardino, where the violent crime rate was 3,190 per 100,000 population in 1993. In Los Angeles, the rate was 2,332 per 100,000

Atlanta was ranked the most dangerous city in the United States, with 4,123 crimes per 100,000 residents. In contrast, Irvine experienced only 114 violent crimes, Money reported.

Bob Fisher Sr., owner of a San Bernardino shooting range, said he recently learned firsthand of the city's crime problem.

"I'll tell you how bad it is, when my indoor shooting range gets robbed at gunpoint and they take away 40 guns, that tells you it's getting bad," said Fisher, who owns the San Bernardino Magnum Range, a place where judges, doctors, lawyers and homemakers practice their shooting. "These people are getting so bold out here, they don't care if they're coming into an indoor shooting range and \o7 you\f7 have a gun too. They still got the drop on us, and took off with 40 handguns."

Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA)
12th and Ottawa: Gangs' ground zero
David Ogul
June 28, 1994


RIVERSIDE

It is just another corner in an impoverished neighborhood, where gangs are the most influential institution and misery is the only industry that thrives. But to the homeboys on the Eastside, it is a lot more.

Twelfth and Ottawa is where the recent gang wars and racial tensions between blacks and Hispanics started.

It began with a drive-by shooting on April 24, 1990, that led to a ruptured gang alliance and triggered all-out war.

Gunmen in a light blue Oldsmobile crammed with 2800 block Crips from Casa Blanca drove by on a sunny afternoon and opened fire on anyone they could find.

They found Stuart Warhop.

Warhop, a member of the Eastside's 1200 block Crips, died two months later. Numerous homeboys decked out in gang attire attended his funeral at the Faith Temple on Pennsylvania Avenue, pledging not to let Warhop die in vain.

They kept their promise.

The shooting of Warhop was just one in a continuing fight between the warring Crips factions, but it was a galvanizing one for the two predominantly black groups.

Forays by the 1200 block Crips into the largely Hispanic Casa Blanca neighborhood claimed by the 2800 block Crips escalated.

By the end of 1990, the 1200 block Crips took the unprecedented step of joining forces with the predominantly Hispanic Tiny Dukes, an Eastside gang that police say is the most violent in the city. By the spring of 1991, drive-by shootings were occurring on a nightly basis.

The partnership hit its zenith on the night of March 8. That is when a carload of Tiny Dukes and 1200 block Crips drove to Casa Blanca and murdered 15-year-old Ismael Carrillo just two blocks from the Riverside Police Department's Lincoln Avenue station.

The law came down with a vengeance. More than two dozen gang members were successfully prosecuted in connection with the attack, making it the largest murder conspiracy case in the county.

The Mexican Mafia came down just as hard. The prison-based syndicate reacted by forbidding its members to associate with black gang members.

"You don't go up against the Mexican Mafia," said 16-year-old Jose Martinez, an Eastside native with many friends in the Tiny Dukes. By the end of 1993, the Tiny Dukes and the 1200 block Crips were again mortal enemies. And the victims include more than those affiliated with gangs.

On March 7, a suspected black gang member ambushed a 29-year-old Hispanic man walking home with his girlfriend, blasting a shotgun round into the man's head. On Feb. 2, four black gang members fired on a group of teen-agers practicing a wedding dance near the Community Settlement Association on Bermuda Avenue. Just weeks before that, a 10-year-old black girl had a gun shoved in her face because she was visiting a friend in Tiny Dukes territory.

"It pissed me off," said the girl's mother, Debra Morgan. "But it didn't piss me off because it was some Mexican pulling this off; it pissed me off because someone could pull a gun on a child. I don't care what color you are, you should not have someone pulling a gun on a little kid."

Author: David Ogul
Section: LOCAL
Page: B10

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Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA)
Riverside police see surge in slayings: Seven homicides have been reported in the first 10 weeks of the year.
Lisa O'Neill Hill
March 18, 2000


RIVERSIDE

Ten weeks, seven bodies. Since the beginning of the year, Riverside homicide detectives have investigated nearly one slaying a week.

And the surge comes after the number of homicides nearly doubled last year, 31, from the number recorded in 1998, 17, according to the crime analysis bureau.

The heavy caseload for the eight-person homicide team has forced investigators to work overtime and to call on officers from other units for help.

"We hit a little surge here and I commend our personnel for stepping up and responding," said Riverside police Capt. Mike Blakely, who oversees the investigations division.

Detective Bill Barnes, who has been with the homicide team for several months, said he figured he would be busy, but he did not expect to be so busy over such a long time.

"Hopefully, this is not a sign of things to come," he said.

He said detectives usually see a peak in homicides during the summer, when it's warm and when people tend to socialize more.

Police do not know why there have been so many recent slayings.

"I don't think there is any way to predict a homicide," said Sgt. John De La Rosa, who heads the homicide unit. "Because you can't predict it, you can't be proactive."

There have not been any particular patterns to the homicides, though several have been gang related, Blakely said. In most homicides the victims know their killers or are engaged in a lifestyle that might lead to violence, such as prostitution or drug use, police said. It is unusual for a person to be killed by someone they do not know, police say.

Although they have been busy this year, detectives have made arrests in most of their cases.

Of the seven cases this year, police have made arrests in five: two gang-related killings; a fatal stabbing in Casa Blanca; a shooting death outside a University Avenue motel; and an argument between two transients that ended with one of them dead.

Detectives say they have identified suspects in the two other cases. One man was stabbed to death outside a home on Picker Street and another was dumped near an orange grove.

Homicide detectives are well aware of the fact that the number of slayings ebbs and flows. Times have been worse.

In the first five months of 1997, police investigated nearly as many slayings -- 17 -- as they did in all of 1996, when 18 killings were reported. The total for 1997 was 23.

Still, the number of cases this year and last, and the manpower needed for the complicated inquiries, are challenging for police.

"These cases are labor intensive," Barnes said. "You don't solve them in an hour like on TV."

Section: LOCAL
Page: B01


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Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA)
Police tie shootings to gangs // RIVERSIDE: Seven people are injured in four shootings in a two-day period last weekend.
SARAH BURGE
June 11, 2005

RIVERSIDE

When four shootings occurred in 48 hours last weekend, the police were not surprised.

The shootings were not connected, but they may all be gang-related, said Riverside police Sgt. Frank Assumma.

Six people were shot, but no one was killed, police said. A 9-year-old bystander was slightly injured in one incident. The shootings are being investigated as attempted homicides.

"We don't usually see this much violence in as many different areas as we are now," Assumma said

Assumma said police linked the shootings to gangs based on where they happened and other factors that he would not elaborate on.

He and Officer Phil Fernandez summarized the weekend violence:

* About 8 p.m. June 4, a 23-year-old man was walking on Linden Street near Douglas Avenue when he heard shots. He took off running, but a bullet struck his right heel. A 9-year-old girl standing nearby was struck by debris from the gunshots, but received only minor scrapes.

* Shortly after midnight Sunday, a man was in the McDonald's parking lot on University Avenue when three men in a 2000 Chrysler confronted him. One of the men asked where he was from. Someone in the car started shooting and the victim was hit once.

* At about 7:45 p.m. Sunday, a group of teenagers was sitting on a bench in Villegas Park when a man approached them and fired six to eight shots. A 15-year-old boy was hit in the head, and a 17-year-old boy was hit in the torso and arm. Both are expected to recover.

* Later, at about 9:15 p.m., a group of men was playing basketball on Haskell Street near Shawnee Avenue in Casa Blanca when another man approached them and fired five to six shots. A 25-year-old man was hit in the leg, and a 21-year-old man was hit in the torso and right knee.

Incidents involving gangs are difficult to investigate because victims and witnesses are reluctant to talk, Assumma said.

Assumma said the gang picture in Riverside is complicated. Not only are there "indigenous gangs," but there is an influx of big LA gangs across the city.

Overall, gang violence in Riverside has declined, he said. "When I got here, back in 1991, it was just horrendous."

Police ask that anyone with information about the shootings contact the investigations division at (951) 320-8000.

Author: SARAH BURGE
Section: LOCAL
Page: B01

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Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA)
Police fear shootings could lead to gang war - Officials are apprehensive over violence in Riverside
David Ogul
November 18, 1992


RIVERSIDE

A spate of recent drive-by shootings may portend an explosion in gang violence after more than a year of relative calm, law enforcement authorities say. "It's certainly got our attention," said Mike Stachowski, a supervising probation officer in charge of gang suppression in the county juvenile probation office.

"It's getting more active," said Sgt. Alex Tortes, who heads the Riverside Police Department's gang suppression unit. "It's a concern."

The most recent incidents occurred Monday night when a 19-year-old man was critically injured and a 26-year-old man suffered minor injuries in separate drive-by shootings. Those incidents followed a Saturday-night drive-by shooting that critically injured a 17-year-old Riverside girl.

During the previous weekend, three men were wounded, two seriously, in a drive-by shooting that led to a gun battle and an officer-involved shooting near Patterson Park in Riverside's gang-dominated Eastside.

And three weeks ago, Riverside police investigated one of the most intense gunfights in recent memory - a battle that saw more than 100 rounds fired in a modest Arlanza neighborhood near Bryant Park.

No one was hurt.

Besides those incidents, Tortes said, "there are numerous drive-by shootings in Casa Blanca and the Eastside that go unreported (to police). They are occurring almost on a daily basis."

Police investigating Monday-night's Casa Blanca shooting found a number of spent cartridges from earlier, apparently unreported, shootings.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with any of the recent shootings.

But not everyone is convinced that what is occurring in Riverside is an omen of escalating violence.

"Drive-by shootings and gang violence happens in Southern California every night, and Riverside is no different," said Sgt. Ed McBride, who supervised detectives at Monday-night's shootings. "I haven't seen any change."

Police and prosecutors in the Riverside County District Attorney's Office say the relative calm in Riverside gang warfare can be traced to the successful prosecution of one of the largest murder conspiracy cases in the country.

The case stemmed from an investigation that found two Eastside gangs had allied to fight rivals in Casa Blanca and Rubidoux. The alignment led to the March 1991 shooting death of a 15-year-old Casa Blanca boy.

Thirty-one people have since been charged in connection with the slaying. Twenty-five people have either been convicted or pleaded guilty. "A lot of main players were put away," Stachowski said.

"For 15 or 16 months, we saw very little gang violence," said John Davis, a deputy district attorney in the office's gang suppression unit.

But the success in cracking down on the Eastside gangs may have left a vacuum being filled by others eager to demonstrate their viciousness, Davis said.

Still, Davis is not entirely convinced the recent incidents will mean a new round of increased gang violence.

"The last few weeks we've had a number of incidents, but they appear to be isolated cases," he said. "It's too early to draw any conclusions."

The shootout in Arlanza was started when Casa Blanca gang members went into an Arlanza gang's territory to attend a birthday party of a relative, authorities say. The shooting last weekend near Patterson Park was a spontaneous incident sparked when some gang members from Rubidoux spotted some 1200 block Crips and decided to fire away, Davis said.

Saturday's shooting that left the 17-year-old girl injured may have been perpetrated by gang members, but the motive appears to be drug-related, Tortes said.

The Monday-night shootings were gang-related, but they were not related to each other, McBride said, who supervised the crime scenes at the twin locations.

The most serious shooting sent Jose Juarez Medina, 19, of Riverside, to Riverside General Hospital, where he remained last night in serious but stable condition, a nursing supervisor said. He was struck in the kidney area.

Bullets also pierced the wall of a home at Madison Street and Fern Avenue, splintering wood that struck a 3-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl.

Noting the severity of the incident, Davis said: "Gangs do feel the need to retaliate when there are serious shootings. And some of these shootings have been pretty serious."

If there is a renewed outbreak of violence, Riverside police will be more prepared than they have been. The size of Tortes' staff was more than doubled, to five detectives, last summer. And they have developed a good working relationship with the District Attorney's Office.

"We will do whatever we can to keep this from getting out of hand," Tortes said.

"It's really difficult to project what is going to happen," Stachowski said, "but we intend to stay on top of it."


Author: David Ogul
Section: LOCAL
Page: B01

--------------------------------------------

Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA)
2 officers shot at in Riverside - One bullet hits a door of a police car. Another bullet whizzes by an officer's ear.
David Ogul
December 3, 1993


RIVERSIDE

Two Riverside police officers were fired on early yesterday in a Casa Blanca neighborhood, but authorities insist that the difficult effort to improve relations between police and the largely Hispanic area would not be affected. No one was hurt, although a bullet did hit a door of a police car. No one has been arrested.

Some community leaders later apologized to police Chief Ken Fortier, who told them they had nothing to apologize for.

"I don't think it in any way reflects anything in the relationship between police and the residents of the community, which remain good," he said. "The only thing it underscores is that crime occurs everywhere."

The shootings occurred before 3 a.m. yesterday as Officer Alan Danzek was patrolling the area near Madison Street and Fern Avenue.

"He was just on routine patrol, driving down the street, and he was shot at numerous times in rapid succession," said Sgt. Jim Brading.

Danzek called for backup, and when other officers arrived, they cordoned off a small area and began searching for witnesses and suspects. As they searched, another round was fired, with a bullet whizzing by the ear of Officer Ed Collins.

No witnesses were found and no suspects have been identified.

Police have long had a stormy relationship with many in Casa Blanca, where they have been assaulted, sued and shot at over the years. Police, in turn, have been accused of unprovoked attacks on teen-agers, unwarranted shootings and murder.

Over the past several months, however, police and community residents say they have begun to come closer together through a series of projects, including a community-based policing program, a midnight basketball league and camping trips with disadvantaged youths in the San Jacinto Mountains.

Many in the area say relations between police and residents have not been this good in years. Even those who are critical of whatever gains have been made concede that strides are being taken to open the lines of communication between police and residents.

Author: David Ogul
Section: LOCAL
Page: B01

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Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA)-
Another violent clash with police- Police say they were hit by rocks and bottles thrown by a mob as they tried to arrest suspects in two earlier crimes. Some Casa Blanca residents say police roughed up a group of teen-agers without cause.

May 25, 1993
Author: Juan C. Arancibia and Janet Gilmore

Two police officers and at least one Casa Blanca resident were hurt last night in a fracas that began with an arrest in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood - the latest in a long line of such clashes.

Police and residents offered two versions of the incident. While officers say they were hit by rocks and bottles thrown by a mob as they tried to arrest suspects in two earlier crimes, community members said police roughed up a group of teen-agers without provocation.

"They're provoking this trouble," said Dora Sosa, the mother of a woman who may have been injured during the disturbance with police. "They're supposed to be protecting you, not harassing you and then laughing at you."

Sgt. Dan Padelford and Lt. Jerry Carroll said it all began when a group of women invaded a house on Trey Avenue in Arlanza about 6:30 p.m., attacked a woman at the house with a screwdriver, puncturing her lung, and took a microwave oven. Information on her condition was not available last night.

A half-hour later, the occupants of a Toyota Celica matching the description of a vehicle involved in the break-in took a purse from a woman walking on Victoria Avenue at Cridge Street in the Eastside.

Then, about 7:30 p.m., a police helicopter unit spotted the Celica in Casa Blanca, Padelford and Carroll said. Officers on the ground then proceeded to the area of Fern Avenue and Cary Street, where the car had stopped and its occupants had gotten out.

Officers Rod McMillan and Richard Prince tried to arrest individuals walking away from the car when the area turned to a scene "like a barroom brawl," Padelford said.

He said a crowd of people nearby surrounded the officers and tried to wrest away the suspects from the officers.

By the time about 15 officers arrived to assist, a disturbance was in full force and officers were showered by rocks and bottles, the police officials said. McMillan and Prince were taken to Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center with hand injuries.

A 17-year-old Casa Blanca teen was bitten in the leg by a police dog. Padelford and Carroll said the dog immediately charged the teen after he shoved an officer.

Carroll said the minors showed signs of being under the influence of PCP and were taken to the hospital for blood tests.

It took about five minutes to quell the disturbance, Padelford said. Two adults and three juveniles - all from Casa Blanca - were arrested. The adults were identified as Mona Perez, 30, and Danny Ahumada, 18.

Names of minors are not released by police. The suspects were held on suspicion of battery on a peace officer and lynching, which is defined as taking a suspect from police custody.

By late last night more than a dozen people from Casa Blanca sat outside the Riverside General hospital to await word on the five people they believed to be injured. They also vented their frustrations with the Police Department and recalled what happened.

Teresa De La Rosa, 31, said police cars and a helicopter converged on the neighborhood for no apparent reason. Residents estimated the conflict drew 25 officers and a crowd of at least 150.

Two officers held down one person by his shirt, hitting him with their hands, residents said. Meanwhile, De La Rosa said, another officer grabbed another person and hit him while putting him in a police car.

At the same time, two officers pulled 14-year-old Veronica Savala, by the shirt. Savala said this happened after she told police officers to leave her cousin, Danny Ahumada, alone.

Onlookers, including De La Rosa and her sister, tried to stop the officers from grabbing Veronica. De La Rosa said officers then turned on those who attempted to intervene. In the process, De La Rosa said, police grabbed her sister and held a baton on De La Rosa and her husband.

An officer ordered a police dog to attack, De La Rosa and Savala said, and the dog bit two teens. Police said only one was bitten.

Residents who saw or heard about the fracas were outraged last night, expressing anger over what they considered to be police harassment and unprovoked attacks on Casa Blanca residents.

"It always seems to be a white cop who starts all the trouble," said Dora Sosa.

When police officers escorted one suspect to the hospital emergency room, a group of residents began shouting for justice, for police officers who protect them.


Edition: RIVERSIDE
Section: LOCAL
Page: B01

Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA)-
Another violent clash with police- Police say they were hit by rocks and bottles thrown by a mob as they tried to arrest suspects in two earlier crimes. Some Casa Blanca residents say police roughed up a group of teen-agers without cause.

May 25, 1993
Author: Juan C. Arancibia and Janet Gilmore

Two police officers and at least one Casa Blanca resident were hurt last night in a fracas that began with an arrest in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood - the latest in a long line of such clashes.

Police and residents offered two versions of the incident. While officers say they were hit by rocks and bottles thrown by a mob as they tried to arrest suspects in two earlier crimes, community members said police roughed up a group of teen-agers without provocation.

"They're provoking this trouble," said Dora Sosa, the mother of a woman who may have been injured during the disturbance with police. "They're supposed to be protecting you, not harassing you and then laughing at you."

Sgt. Dan Padelford and Lt. Jerry Carroll said it all began when a group of women invaded a house on Trey Avenue in Arlanza about 6:30 p.m., attacked a woman at the house with a screwdriver, puncturing her lung, and took a microwave oven. Information on her condition was not available last night.

A half-hour later, the occupants of a Toyota Celica matching the description of a vehicle involved in the break-in took a purse from a woman walking on Victoria Avenue at Cridge Street in the Eastside.

Then, about 7:30 p.m., a police helicopter unit spotted the Celica in Casa Blanca, Padelford and Carroll said. Officers on the ground then proceeded to the area of Fern Avenue and Cary Street, where the car had stopped and its occupants had gotten out.

Officers Rod McMillan and Richard Prince tried to arrest individuals walking away from the car when the area turned to a scene "like a barroom brawl," Padelford said.

He said a crowd of people nearby surrounded the officers and tried to wrest away the suspects from the officers.

By the time about 15 officers arrived to assist, a disturbance was in full force and officers were showered by rocks and bottles, the police officials said. McMillan and Prince were taken to Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center with hand injuries.

A 17-year-old Casa Blanca teen was bitten in the leg by a police dog. Padelford and Carroll said the dog immediately charged the teen after he shoved an officer.

Carroll said the minors showed signs of being under the influence of PCP and were taken to the hospital for blood tests.

It took about five minutes to quell the disturbance, Padelford said. Two adults and three juveniles - all from Casa Blanca - were arrested. The adults were identified as Mona Perez, 30, and Danny Ahumada, 18.

Names of minors are not released by police. The suspects were held on suspicion of battery on a peace officer and lynching, which is defined as taking a suspect from police custody.

By late last night more than a dozen people from Casa Blanca sat outside the Riverside General hospital to await word on the five people they believed to be injured. They also vented their frustrations with the Police Department and recalled what happened.

Teresa De La Rosa, 31, said police cars and a helicopter converged on the neighborhood for no apparent reason. Residents estimated the conflict drew 25 officers and a crowd of at least 150.

Two officers held down one person by his shirt, hitting him with their hands, residents said. Meanwhile, De La Rosa said, another officer grabbed another person and hit him while putting him in a police car.

At the same time, two officers pulled 14-year-old Veronica Savala, by the shirt. Savala said this happened after she told police officers to leave her cousin, Danny Ahumada, alone.

Onlookers, including De La Rosa and her sister, tried to stop the officers from grabbing Veronica. De La Rosa said officers then turned on those who attempted to intervene. In the process, De La Rosa said, police grabbed her sister and held a baton on De La Rosa and her husband.

An officer ordered a police dog to attack, De La Rosa and Savala said, and the dog bit two teens. Police said only one was bitten.

Residents who saw or heard about the fracas were outraged last night, expressing anger over what they considered to be police harassment and unprovoked attacks on Casa Blanca residents.

"It always seems to be a white cop who starts all the trouble," said Dora Sosa.

When police officers escorted one suspect to the hospital emergency room, a group of residents began shouting for justice, for police officers who protect them.


Edition: RIVERSIDE
Section: LOCAL
Page: B01

TRUCE: Gang members and neighbors try diplomacy

By David Kelly
The Press-Enterprise
SAN BERNARDINO

The worst of the day's heat was over and the young men with the hard stares began filtering out of the homes and projects throughout their Westside San Bernardino neighborhoods.

They stood in clusters around Little Zion Manor, Dorjil Estates and California Gardens -- wary, edgy, with an eye on the streets and an ear cocked for screeching tires and the pop, pop, pop of gunfire.

But except for the deep boom of rap music throbbing from car stereos, the evening was quiet.

It's been that way ever since a pair of gang members walked up to Bob Fluker's front yard on California Street two months ago and said enough was enough.

They were tired and wanted it stopped -- the shooting, the retaliation, the ambushes. But they didn't know how. Too much blood had passed between the five rival neighborhoods which include Delmann Heights and an area known simply as the Projects.

Fluker, a plain-spoken 74-year-old, was known as someone politically connected, a fixer who could make things happen. He had volunteered for past mayors and campaigned aggressively for Supervisor Jerry Eaves.

"They said, `Could you do something for us, could you set up a meeting?' " recalled Fluker. "I got on the phone with Jerry Eaves and we all met in the supervisor's office. There was the chief of police and eight or nine gang members. They said they wanted to stop the killing."

Meanwhile, Fluker's friend Marvin Johnson piloted his lumbering 1966 Cadillac through some of the toughest Westside neighborhoods, trying to round up gang members to attend the meeting.

And so a quiet, shuttle diplomacy was born, a diplomacy that has temporarily stopped the carnage. In two months there hasn't been a homicide among any of the five gangs whose members may number between 200 and 500 each, according to police and residents.

Just before the peace talks began, a man was killed in a gang-related slaying at Little Zion Manor and there were 12 shootings in May and three in June, not counting all the random gunfire in which no one was actually hit, police said.

"The shooting was coming fast and furious," said Lt. Steven Klettenberg, who has worked for 21 years on the Westside and heads the San Bernardino community policing station there.

Old-timers, like combat veterans, could tell which direction a bullet was coming just by its sound. And the rain of gunfire turned neighborhoods into prisons -- places where many dared not leave for fear of trespassing on someone else's turf.

"You just stay in here, you can't go out because you don't want to be shot," said 19-year-old Lonnie as he rode his bike inside the gates of Dorjil Estates just across from Little Zion Manor. Lonnie said he is not a gang member and refused to give his full name.

Down among the single-story homes in the California Gardens, 17-year-old Dwayne Butler and his friend Ronald Manning, 18 -- who both say they are not gang members -- ventured out for a walk.

"It was rough before," said Butler, looking up and down the road. "You gotta watch every car."

"We've been shot at but never shot," Manning said.

Butler folded his arms and stared down at the cracked driveway.

"One stupid person can mess the whole thing up," he said.

And that's what scares some people, that any declaration of peace will be a tempting target for troublemakers.

"We are sitting on a ticking time bomb," warned LeRoy Baker, an elder at the 16th Street Seventh Day Adventist Church deeply involved with the peace effort. "It could blow at any time and we have to be prepared for it."

Gang members, clergy, neighbors, police and local officials have met each week at neutral locations -- usually churches -- where they have slowly hammered out a truce.

The peace agreement is simple enough -- a commitment to lay down arms, resolve all issues at a neutral location with mediators and discourage all illegal activities and the destructive use of drugs and alcohol.

"This peace treaty will begin as of 7-25-98 and will continue until there is no longer a need for a formal document. It will also continue as a reminder that San Bernardino is actively striving to be seen as a place of peace, tranquility and prosperity," the document says.

Most gang members agreed to the truce by proxy since they did not want to attend meetings with the police. For his part, San Bernardino Police Chief Lee Dean vowed not to run warrant checks on those who showed up but warned anyone guilty of serious crimes to stay away.

The task force also persuaded Omnitrans to reinstate bus service through the Westside which it had suspended out of concern for the violence.

"The significance of this agreement is that it wasn't driven by the police, it was driven by the community," said San Bernardino Mayor Judith Valles. "This is the community and the clergy saying we aren't going to take this anymore."

Baker said the Westside is full of "God-fearing" people with long histories in the city.

"We are in the beginning of a restructuring of the community," he said. "If we don't take it upon ourselves to stop the violence, we are going to destroy ourselves. Actions speak louder than words."

Shortly after the agreement, a picnic was held that produced the surreal sight of Chief Dean serving up hot dogs to gang members in Anne Shirrells Park at Base Line and California Street.

"This is the first time we have been asked to do this," said Dean. "It's sort of odd. I like to think we have established a trust factor with the community over the years. Goodwill and communication, you can't buy that."

Lt. Klettenberg said most residents are law-abiding citizens. A handful cause problems.

"I think we made some real decent headway. It's not a panacea," he said. "If we have a shooting tomorrow night I'll be disappointed but not surprised."

Aaron Smith leans outside the car window.

"Yo, yo! Hey, come here little brother!" he yells, as a pair of stern looking young men walk briskly down the street.

"We'll be back man, we're just going down to get some cigarettes," says one, casting a suspicious eye on a stranger in the car.

"They're not coming back," says Anthony Green, Smith's uncle. Both run after the pair and convince them that the stranger is not a cop.

Green tells them about the truce.

Suddenly the two tattooed, shirtless teens with the baggy jeans grow animated.

"We could stop the gunfire in a minute but if they don't give us good jobs, what's the point?" says the 17-year-old who identified himself as Gene and refused to give his full name.

His 18-year-old friend, `T,' who also refused to give his full name, agrees.

"That's why I'm on the street hustling. If you take a job at McDonalds you make $200 a week. You know what I'll do with that? I'll buy me a bag and sell it."

Green tells them of the task force's plans to start computer classes and offer job training courses. He says he hopes to organize a meeting of rival gang members at a neutral spot to help keep the truce in effect.

"The truce is good if it works but you need everybody individually to agree to it," says T.

"If it gets the cops off our backs then it's good," says Gene.

In the effort to secure peace in the neighborhoods Green, 45, and Smith, 33, operate at ground zero. Both men are lifelong residents of California Gardens, which like the other neighborhoods, is home to many generations of city residents.

They are well connected in all the neighborhoods through friendships, family and respect. Green is tall, thin and walks with a cane while Smith has a chisled face, boxer's build and speaks in a low voice.

When the peace task force wants to know what the gangs are thinking, Green and Smith can usually give them an idea.

Gang leaders often call Smith before each meeting and ask if he's going.

"He is a facilitator. He called me and I came over and he was eating breakfast with representatives from three different neighborhoods," said Baker. "Anthony knows the older members, Aaron knows the younger."

Today Green and Smith are taking the pulse of the streets -- trying to see if the truce is holding and where tensions still exist. Despite the peace, there is still sporadic gunfire. One man was shot and wounded two weeks ago on California Street. Police are still investigating the crime.

"The youngsters are tired of it," said Smith. "They want to see life, too."

Up on Dallas Street, Reggie Williams, 27, is pushing his son in a stroller along the edge of the road.

Williams has "RIP Bubba" tattooed on his chest in honor of his dad who died of colon cancer and another tattoo of a `5X' -- the moniker of the 5 Times gang.

"I know gang-banging is stupid but I guess I'm a part of it. It will be cool if the truce works," he says. "Everything is pretty cool right now, no one has a beef. This is the first summer I've seen without the violence."

His friend Randall Dynes, 26, agrees but he's still nervous.

"I've got kids I can't lose to bullets," he says. "That's why I drive solo."

As the car wends its way through neighborhoods of small, neatly kept homes and monotonous apartment complexes, Green compares the situation of many youth here to warfare.

"These youngsters are not afraid to die; they're not scared to shoot. It's like Vietnam, you go out of the platoon and you might not come back."

Smith said many of the disputes are just personal grudges with no gangs involved. Others revolve around turf and drugs.

Further up the hill through the gates of Little Zion Manor, groups of young men hang out by the curved road in the evening cool. Their icy stares melt as soon as they see Smith and Green. Both men jump out, shake hands and soon everyone is talking about old times.

"Remember when we used to hang out until 5 in the morning?" asks a man calling himself `Scrappy,' who refused to give his real name. "We can't do that no more."

There is a sense of expectation in the air fueled perhaps by the coming weekend or the feeling that at any moment anything can happen. Children toddle across the grass while a man tweaks the bass on his car stereo.

Still, says 46-year-old Jimmy Mason, "it's been quiet around here for the last few months."

"Before it was a war zone, you couldn't take the kids out. We had drive-bys all the time."

Another man predicts the truce will hold, "but only with the older guys pushing the issue. They got to keep the young guys from getting out of line."

Geno Macon, 23, who has `Macon Mafia' tattooed on his arm, says he'd like a meeting with other neighborhood representatives.

"If this is ever going to take off we are all going to have to shake hands," he says.

Down in California Gardens a bare-chested 20-year-old who goes by Buck, and refused to give his full name, says getting along is preferable to "just blasting everyone."

His brother Nestor, 17, who also wouldn't give his full name, says if anything happens he will come to Smith first before retaliating.

"We need to have a mediator," he says. "You can't talk to some of the people because they'll pull a gun and shoot you. We want to try and keep the shooting out of it -- why shoot or stab each other?"

But Buck warns: "The neighborhood is like a family. We can't go looking for trouble but we'll bring it on if they ask."

Chief Dean is standing before a blackboard inside the city police station brainstorming on ideas as diverse as free computer training for kids to how to manage a criminal history.

Not surprisingly, given the location of the task force meeting, no gang members show up.

Dean proposes a monthlong, one-day-a-week life skills training program where youth would learn how to get a job. But first he needs volunteer teachers.

"They need to hold a job," says Marvin Johnson, "A lot of them can get jobs but they can't hold them."

Frank Stallworth, field representative for State Sen. Rueben Ayala, says the only way the effort could fail is "if in six months I don't see anyone hired."

The Rev. Ray Turner of Missionary Baptist Temple on the Westside asks, "If you lay down the rules of the game and nobody wants to play, what do we accomplish?"

"We need to go to them and find out what they want," says Johnson.

"We need to get employers who will accept felons," adds Turner.

Dean says they would be taught "how to manage their criminal histories."

Lt. Klettenberg notes the need to "educate employers on types of felons."

"There's a big difference between a child molester and someone who is dealing a little dope and gets popped for it," he says.

Over at the 16th Street Seventh Day Adventist Church, LeRoy Brown talks enthusiastically about a proposed $1.5 million community center in a neighborhood parched for recreational facilities. Brown said they are seeking funding through a variety of sources including private donations and grants.

He hopes construction of the two-acre site beside the church will begin in the next few months and open next year.

Along with his duties as elder, Brown heads the non-profit Westside Brighter Vision Center, and foresees a community center offering medical clinics, job training, technical skills and recreation all under one roof.

"I like to refer to the Westside as a diamond in the rough -- there is so much talent, so much integrity here," he says. "What appears on the outside is not the heart of the community. We will continue to move forward until we accomplish our goal -- to take a diamond that is dirty and shine it up until it's the most brilliant part of San Bernardino."


Published 8/17/1998

After the truce, the tough part

By David Kelly
The Press-Enterprise
SAN BERNARDINO

They call him "Big Devil" around his California Gardens neighborhood but Franklin Welch seems smaller, thinner and far less evil than his moniker suggests.

True, at 16 he stole a car, provided the guns and rode along when his friends shot dead a rival gang member but he's done his time -- four years in prison -- and now, at 20, he's facing a world not much interested in giving him a second chance.

The quiet, shy man sat alone in the courtyard of the 16th Street Seventh-day Adventist Church watching some boisterous friends rapping on the sidewalk.

"I want to be a paramedic but may not be able to because of my murder conviction," he said. "I'm trying to get a job as a security guard. I never really worked before but I got to get off the streets or I'll go down with the gang and get jacked up again."

Welch, like many of his friends in this Westside neighborhood, came to the church recently seeking help or hope or anything that might get him off the depressing treadmill of crime, gangs, jail and sudden death.

But the problems they face are enormous, so enormous that the community leaders who recently organized a truce between five rival neighborhood gangs are now realizing that was the easy part.

"We initially thought we would just be mediators heading off gang problems," said the Rev. Joshua Beckley, chairman of the Gang Peace Task Force. "But it's turned out to be much more complicated than that."

While negotiating the truce, gang members claimed unemployment made them steal, sell drugs or rob for their money.

So the task force embarked on an ambitious new course -- trying to turn severely damaged people with little or no work experience into productive citizens. And this objective has proven the most challenging.

Simple things like getting drivers licenses, basic hygiene, opening a checking account or just reading and writing baffle many of these young people.

"There are problems that haven't even crossed our minds," said the Rev. Ray Turner, a task force member. "A lot of the kids we are dealing with have a way of thinking we wouldn't consider normal. The problem is a lot bigger than what we all think."

Compounding the stress is the fact that community leaders may be working on borrowed time. Nobody knows how long the truce will hold. So the task force has a narrow window of opportunity to act, yet they are torn on how to proceed, when to proceed and what to proceed with.

Some are openly annoyed by their slow progress while others say it's foolish to gather expectant teens together with nothing coherent to offer them.

"It's not a small task but you have to start somewhere," said a clearly frustrated Lee Dean, chief of the San Bernardino Police Department, who has been a major player in the task force. "I'm not happy with the progress."

Survival comes first

LeRoy Baker, an elder at the 16th Street Seventh-day Adventist church, has an idea: Start at the beginning.

"Who are you?" Baker asks 17-year-old Eugene Moore, who came to the church seeking help in settling a legal problem.

"A black male," Moore replies, somewhat stunned by the question.

"I know, but who are you?" Baker presses.

"I don't know how to answer," a confused Moore says.

"What is your purpose?"

"I'd like to have a little job, go to school, do whatever there is to do," he says with a shrug.

Easier said than done.

School is on hold. Moore violated probation and police were waiting to nab him when he showed up for class, so he didn't go.

Police couldn't find him at home because he didn't have one. His mother got out of jail the day before and neither had a place to stay.

His legal guardian couldn't take him in because she already had someone on probation under her roof and it's illegal to have two. He has no car so he simply didn't show up for court.

For money, Moore has stolen cars and has already done time for grand theft auto -- he made $400 to $500 on each car sold for salvage. For shelter, he sleeps at a girlfriend's house.

"I've been living on and off the streets since I was 12," said the smiling teen with his black hat pulled down to his eyebrows.

"This is a prime example and this is a mild case," said a visibly angry Baker, who has put together his own job training program. "Survival is the No. 1 priority, not education."

Point-blank

That message was hammered home last week when about 10 teen-agers and gang members met with Baker and the Rev. Beckley.

There was the standard bravado, one kid trying to impress the next with how tough he was.

"I pulled a gun and stuck it in this guy's face," bragged a chubby 15-year-old, who would not give his last name.

Why?

"Because I didn't like the way he looked at me," he replied coolly. "I got arrested for attempted murder but I flipped the script." Flipping the script, he explained, meant he lied to the court and got away with it.

Another young man was just kicked out of school for beating up another student "with red shoelaces who was staring at me."

And still another casually described watching his drunken father beat his mother to death when he was a small boy.

But after an hour, fear and hurt began to replace machismo.

They talked about deadly 8-year-olds "strapped," or carrying pistols, toddlers spouting gang lingo, dads turning sons into gunmen because they would do less time in prison and parents selling off the furniture for drugs.

And they explained that, truce or no truce, going into certain neighborhoods or even walking alone on the busy street outside could still spell sudden death.

"When we leave from this building, we have to watch our backs," 18-year-old Dwayne Butler said.

Most are stranded in the neighborhood because catching the nearest bus, which arrives outside the Little Zion Manor apartments, is a risk none are willing to take.

"What happens if you go to Little Zion?" Baker asked.

"It's like committing suicide," Butler replied.

"You never know what might happen," said a 20-year-old who identified himself only as Big Tone.

"You'll get shot or beat up," Franklin Welch said.

"That makes you want to retaliate and it causes a domino effect," Big Tone said.

"So the truce only lasts if you stay in your own `hoods?" Baker asked.

Big Tone, who punctuated every other word with "you know what I'm saying" or "point-blank," nodded.

"All I see is my homies doing the same thing every day," he sighed. "Walking up and down the street."

"Now we understand a lot more," Beckley said. "First of all we can't put you all in the same room."

But they explained that while California Gardens and Little Zion still have problems, they have calmed the beef down with the Delmann Heights neighborhood while Little Zion seems to peacefully co-exist with the area south of Baseline called the Projects.

"We're going to need multiple sites," Baker said.

The two men looked wearily at each other.

"This is not going to happen overnight," Beckley said.

Baker, who is program director of the nonprofit Westside Brighter Vision Foundation, has devised a 102-hour curriculum that blends job training with life skills. He has no money and few volunteers but he feels time is slipping away.

So he made the kids a proposition.

He asked if they wanted to be the first -- the experimental class -- to see if their street mind-sets can be channeled into a wider, more productive world where futures are determined by hard work and integrity and not neighborhood boundaries.

They all raised their hands.

"You have to make a commitment," warned Baker, "that there will be no slippin', no slidin', no shuckin' and no jivin'."

They giggled a bit but agreed.

So what futures are they looking for?

Butler wants to be a doctor; Big Tone, a rapper; Darnell Manning, a welder; Welch, an emergency medical technician.

"I'm tired of seeing people get shot," Welch said. "I want to help people now. We are all tired of the killing."


Published 9/21/1998

On October 9, 2008, Los Angeles Police Officers Matthew Vocke and Philip Zalba responded to a radio call concerning gang activity on North Douglas Street.   They were assigned to the department's gang detail and knew that the Head Hunters gang controlled the area.   When they arrived, Officer Vocke saw two people in the street and appellant walking around a van.   The area was fairly well-lit.   Appellant looked surprised, reached into his waistband, and ran.   Believing that appellant was reaching for a weapon, the officers pursued him and saw eight males running in different directions.   Officer Vocke saw appellant toss a handgun and go into a building.   The officers set up a perimeter around the building but were unable to apprehend appellant.   They detained three other men, Richard Villascusa, Alvaro Moran, and Daniel Grijalva, two of whom were Head Hunters gang members.   Officer Zalba recovered a loaded .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun from the porch of the building.   Villascusa had .40 caliber ammunition in his possession.2

On October 13, 2008, at approximately 4:30 a.m., Rudy Monzon was working at a catering company on Glendale Boulevard in Los Angeles, which was close to North Douglas Street.   He was inside the front portion of the building.   A delivery driver came in and said that there were some people in the back of the building causing trouble.   Monzon and the driver went to the back of the store.   Two Hispanic men were standing about 20 feet away, behind a chain link fence.   Monzon identified appellant as being one of them.   Appellant told Monzon, “Come here.   We want to talk to you.”   Monzon did not approach them.   He told the men to leave the driver alone.   Appellant persisted in asking him to come closer and mentioned the Head Hunters gang.   Monzon told the men to go to sleep and to let him do his job.   Appellant appeared angry and kept talking.   He and his companion started throwing bottles at the store.   Appellant then pointed what looked like a gun.   Monzon and the driver went inside the store and called the police.   About 30 minutes later, police arrived, pointed a spotlight at the building and left without finding or apprehending anyone.

At around 6:30 a.m., Monzon was working near the back of the store when appellant appeared and called out to him.   Appellant asked, “Why did you call the cops?”   Monzon asked appellant if he wanted to fight.   Appellant's companion told appellant to “just chill out.”   Monzon went back inside and heard a gunshot.   Monzon told everyone to stay inside and closed the door.

A little later that morning, Monzon went to the back of the store to unload a delivery truck.   Monzon thought that it was around 8:30 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. He saw appellant at the top of the stairs of the nearby building, and appellant yelled, “[W]here are you going?   It's not over․  I ain't going nowhere.”   Appellant pulled a gun out from his sleeve, pointed it at Monzon with two hands and fired.   Appellant then yelled, “Head Hunters gang,” twice and made a hand sign for the letter “H.” Monzon called the police and told them that appellant was wearing a Dodgers pullover sweatshirt.

Jean Michno, who was working in the catering company, heard a gunshot.   She estimated the shot was fired between 8:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. She was certain it occurred before 9:00 a.m.

The police searched the area and found a broken beer bottle but did not find any shell casings.

On October 24, 2008, Los Angeles Police Officers Jonathan Campbell and his partner Officer Chang were patrolling the Head Hunters gang's neighborhood.   They saw appellant and detained him based upon Officer Vocke's report of the October 9 incident.   Officer Vocke arrived on the scene and positively identified him.   Later that day, Monzon was shown a photographic lineup and selected appellant's photograph.

At trial, Monzon said that he had a clear view of appellant during the incidents that took place on October 13 and again positively identified appellant.3  He testified that at the preliminary hearing, appellant had gestured at him, showing him his middle finger.   A bailiff who was present at the preliminary hearing testified at trial, confirming that appellant gestured towards Monzon during that hearing.

Officer Campbell testified as a gang expert at trial.   He knew that appellant was an active Head Hunters gang member and was part of its DKS clique, which claimed the block of Douglas Street where Officer Vocke had seen him.   The clique only had about 10 active members.   The gang had a hand sign that formed the letter H. Their primary activities were murder, carjacking, robbery, assault with deadly weapons, firearm possession, and vandalism.   As with other gangs, the members were usually promoted for doing errands and crimes for the gang.   Appellant was arrested in the area of North Douglas Street and Glendale Boulevard and was surrounded by freshly painted graffiti of his gang moniker “Lil Gee” and Head Hunters initials.   Appellant's MySpace account listed his name as Lil Gee and his city as “Los Angeles, Head Hunters Gang” and contained pictures of appellant making Head Hunters gang signs.   Officer Campbell identified several pictures of appellant which were posted on the MySpace website.   Officer Campbell identified pictures of several other Head Hunters gang members and testified about their convictions for various violent and firearm related offenses.   Officer Campbell opined that the firearm possession and the actions appellant took during the incident involving Monzon benefitted the Head Hunters' gang reputation and showed appellant's loyalty to the gang.

Appellant did not testify on his own behalf but did call several witnesses.   His mother, Lidia Marquez, testified that on October 9, appellant was with her doing laundry.   On October 13, appellant slept until 7:30 a.m., Marquez gave him a ride to school at 8:00 a.m., and the ride took 25 to 30 minutes.   Appellant did not have any clothing with the Dodgers logo and he did not have any guns.

Appellant was a student at the Roybal Learning Center, which was approximately a five-minute walk from Monzon's catering company.   Appellant's history teacher, Gracia Martinez, testified that appellant was in her first period class which started at 8:20 a.m. Appellant was marked “tardy” in her attendance records for October 13, 2008, but her records showed he arrived before 8:40 a.m. He was present at school for the rest of the day.   Martinez did not believe he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.   She knew he was not wearing a Dodgers sweatshirt because it was against school policy to do so.

Appellant also called the Los Angeles Police Department's forensic print specialist who examined the glass bottle found by Monzon.   She found usable fingerprints but they did not match appellant's or any other fingerprints in her system.

Robert Shomer, an experimental psychologist, testified about the inaccuracy of eyewitness identification and several factors which would have adversely affected the accuracy of the photographic identification.   He did testify, however, that a suspect's gang affiliation might be relevant if there were only 10 members in the gang.

NYTE wrote:This thread is for vintage articles, preferably 10 years or older. 2008 isn't old.

Filthy Latin wrote:

NYTE wrote:This thread is for vintage articles, preferably 10 years or older. 2008 isn't old.

Stop Being A Party Pooper Alonzo!!

Off-Duty Fontana Officer Shot in Stomach : Crime: A convenience store where the shooting occurred may have been a robbery target, police say.
November 18, 1990|JOHN H. LEE | TIMES STAFF WRITER

The shooting took place shortly after 11 p.m. Friday at a Stop & Go Market in the 16800 block of Slover Avenue, police said.

The officer had just finished his shift and was not in uniform when he was shot "without warning" near his car in the store's parking lot, Detective Fred Flores said.

Although police said the assailant may have been with a group of men intending to rob the store, the officer did not appear to be intervening when he was shot.

"I don't think he knew what was happening," Flores said.

Three men, including the gunman, fled the parking lot in a silver car, perhaps a new Toyota Celica, the wounded officer told investigators.

The officer, a three-year veteran, returned fire as the assailants drove off, striking the driver's side of the car with bullets, police said. Further damage was done to the left side of the car when it struck a steel pole in the parking lot.

Several people along the street and in the store witnessed the shooting, police said.

One of the assailants, possibly the gunman, was described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall; weighing 160 pounds, and having a brown ponytail, Flores said. The man was wearing black overalls and a black sweat jacket. The men were described as in their late teens or early 20s.

Occupants of a second car seen fleeing the parking lot at the time of the shooting were being sought for questioning. Detectives described the car as a late-model, dark-colored two-door Chevrolet Impala.