SB gang member held in 3 murders

1:23 p.m.: Suspected gang member to be held in three fatal SB shootings
By Mike Cruz, staff writer
Article Created: 07/31/2008 01:28:11 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO - A suspected San Bernardino gang member was ordered held to face charges Thursday in three Westside homicides in 2005 and 2006.

Judge Colin Bilash ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold over Bryant Jesus Urias in three deadly shootings, which also left three people wounded, following a hearing in San Bernardino Superior Court.

Urias is scheduled to return to court Aug. 8 for formal arraignment.

The defendant faces up to nine life sentences in state prison, if he is convicted on three counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and special allegations which include using a handgun, according to court records.

Urias is being held in the deaths of Yobani Ramirez-Mendez, 16, of San Bernardino; Eric Selvan, 31, of San Bernardino; and Antoine Jerome Lee, 36, of Highland.

Ramirez-Mendez was shot and killed Oct. 13, 2005 outside a house in the 1100 block of West Congress Street. Two brothers standing with Ramirez-Mendez were also struck by gunfire but survived. Selvan was shot in the head Jan. 22, 2006 inside a detached garage at his home in the 1100 block of West Mill Street. Selvan died two days later, after being taken off life support.

Lee was shot and killed Feb. 2, 2006 while getting into a car with his friend in the the 1000 block of West Belleview Street, near K Street.

Urias also is suspected in the shooting of Kevin Anchondo on Jan. 26, 2006. Anchondo was shot outside a residence in the 1200 block of West Birch Street and survived,
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but he remains unconscious and requires breathing assistance, according to court testimony.

All the shootings occurred within 1 square mile, with a boundary of Mount Vernon Avenue, K Street, Mill Street and Rialto Avenue.

Here's a lil touch up on his background...

Urias' gang associations began after father's death
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/20/2006 12:00:00 AM PST


SAN BERNARDINO - From October to February, four separate shootings shattered the quiet in a Westside neighborhood, claiming the lives of three people and leaving one man fighting for his life.
Months of investigation revealed a common thread in the shootings, narrowing a police search to one suspect: 20-year-old Bryant Jesus Urias - a longtime member of the city's largest Latino street gang, Verdugo Flats.

Urias became one of the Police Department's most wanted after witnesses interviewed by detectives pointed to him as the gunman in at least three shootings. Police released fliers with Urias' photo and warned the public to keep a distance should he be spotted on the street.

"He definitely is a dangerous guy. It's my impression that even the guys who hang out with him are scared of him," said Sgt. Mike Desrochers.

Although a young man, Urias of San Bernardino is no crime novice.

Court records show a steady stream of criminal offenses dating back to 2001. In July 2002, at the age of 17, he was sentenced to 40 months in the California Youth Authority in Norwalk for resisting and obstructing an executive officer. He was paroled in June.

Nearly nine months later, Urias is again behind bars - now charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of Eric Selvan, 31, and Yobani Ramirez-Mendez, 16, both San Bernardino residents, and 36-year-old

Antoine Jerome Lee of Highland.
Police also suspect Urias of shooting 25-year-old San Bernardino resident Kevin Anchondo, who remained on life support as of Friday. An investigation continues into that shooting, police said.

Lee was shot and killed Feb. 2 while getting into a car with his friend in the the 1000 block of West Belleview Street, near K Street. Anchondo was shot in the head Jan. 26 outside a house in the 1200 block of West Birch Street, east of Mount Vernon Avenue.

Selvan was shot in the head Jan. 22 inside a detached garage at his home in the 1100 block of West Mill Street. He died two days later after being taken off life support. Ramirez-Mendez was shot and killed Oct. 13 outside a house in the 1100 block of West Congress Street.

Two brothers standing with Ramirez-Mendez at the time of the shooting, Alfonso Salas, 19, and Erik Salas, 20, were also struck by gunfire but survived, authorities said.

All the shootings occurred within 1-square-mile with a boundary of Mount Vernon Avenue to the west, K Street to the east, Mill Street to the south and Rialto Avenue to the north.

Although Urias is accused of a bloody crime-spree spanning five months, some say his propensity for violence didn't become apparent until his teens.

The problems appear to have started for Urias after his father's death in February 2001. A death certificate shows Urias's father, Jesus Manuel Urias, was employed as a supervisor with the Sierra Aluminum Co. in Riverside for 18 years, and died at age 38 of metastatic colon cancer.

Friends who said they grew up with Urias but declined to give their names out of fear of gang retaliation said Jesus Urias was the fabric that held his family together, and his death hit his son hard.

"He started hanging out with gang members in high school. That's when I stopped hanging out with him," said one neighbor. "Ever since their dad died, they went their separate ways. All of a sudden, he just turned. The gang became his family."

Urias is the middle child. He has an older sister and a younger sister, the neighbors said, adding that Urias didn't start dabbling in the gang lifestyle until high school.

Urias attended San Gorgonio High School, Richardson Prep Middle School and Lytle Creek Elementary, said Linda Hill, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino City Unified School District.

Cheryl Kersey, lead gang prosecutor for the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, said Urias didn't pop up on the police radar as a documented gang member until after his father's death. She would not speculate on whether the loss of his father had anything to do with his gang involvement.

Court records show Urias was first arrested about six months after his father's death. Offenses listed on Urias' rap sheet include possession of drugs for sale, making terrorist threats, possession of stolen property, and possession of a controlled substance while armed.

Police initially said Urias committed the shootings for which he now stands accused to boost his standing with his gang, but prosecutors say the motive may vary in each of the slayings.

"There's different layers of motivation; a lot of factors are involved. It seems to be a series of events that happened, but none of them are related," Deputy District Attorney Bruce Brown said Friday after a pretrial hearing in which Urias was charged with the killing of Ramirez-Mendez and the attempted murders of the Salas brothers.

Supervising Deputy District Attorney Victor Stull, who originally reviewed the case, described the slayings as "totally senseless."

Urias faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on all charges.

Prior to his capture, police engaged in a monthlong manhunt that included public announcements warning of the danger he posed.

The cards started falling into place for police between Jan. 22 and Feb. 2.

A search-warrant affidavit details some key facts in two homicide investigations: Detectives investigating Selvan's slaying learned from neighbors that a silver Kia with chrome rims and tinted windows pulled quickly out of the driveway of Selvan's home the night of Jan. 22. The car sped away east on Mill Street toward the freeway.

Witnesses identified the driver of the car, who turned out to be a South Fontana gang member. During questioning by police, he identified Urias as Selvan's killer, and led officers to another man who admitted being present when Urias shot Selvan.

Police also learned from the gang member that Urias was possibly staying with his friend, Kelly Aguayo, who was last living in Crestline. Parole agent Tim Sanky assisted police by providing a current address for Aguayo, a triplex in the 2600 block of Waterman Avenue.

On March 7, police arrived at the triplex and saw someone looking out a window of one of the apartments. The door and windows were suddenly closed and locked.

A man ultimately came out of that unit and told officers Urias had climbed into the attic when he spotted police approaching. Officers noticed shoe prints on the wall leading to the attic and heard noises coming from the attic.

The triplex was surrounded. After a nearly 3.5-hour standoff, Urias came down from the attic and surrendered to police. A subsequent search of the residence turned up a 9-mm semiautomatic handgun, found in the attic where Urias had been hiding. The gun was cocked, loaded with six rounds, and the safety was off.

Detectives also found inside the apartment a bulletproof vest and 27 9-mm Luger bullets wrapped in a black bandanna.

Residents living on the streets east and west of Mount Vernon Avenue, where these shootings occurred, can rest a little easier these days, officials say.

"I'm glad that they caught this guy before he could do any more damage. I'm glad to see a person like him no longer hanging out in the area," 3rd Ward Councilman Gordon McGinnis said.

Although the neighborhood is blighted and far from crime-free, city officials say a change looms for the area - starting with a new housing development on the street on which Urias grew up.

McGinnis said developer ANR Homes plans to build about 100 homes on the north and south sides of West Walnut Street, at Muscott Street, beginning late this year or early next year.

Developers have already negotiated with most of the residents on Walnut Street for the acquisition of their homes, and are currently negotiating the purchase of a salvage yard near the railroad tracks, McGinnis said. He said a mobile-home park and most of the homes along West Walnut are likely to be torn down.

"There's going to be a brand new neighborhood and a great spot for people to live," McGinnis said.

This isn't the Westside. Its the Flats.

Yeah, the papers be mixing shit up. And it also seems like their always trying to portray VFG as the cities largest latino street gang...when I always thought the largest was WSV

Hey Guys, why do the Flats call it the Flats? Is it some projects or another varrio? Excuse my ignorance. Why Flats?

The Flats are the largest gang territory but not membership numbers. They are split into three pieces. That is what all this funk was about with young buck. If you notice one of the shootings took place on Congress Street, that is in the Flats.

I just don't understand what Flats means? Is it just another word for Varrio, or do they call it that because there are 3 seperated neighborhoods?

Paid_In_Full wrote:Yeah, the papers be mixing shit up. And it also seems like their always trying to portray VFG as the cities largest latino street gang...when I always thought the largest was WSV

VF is the largest varrio thats intact. They have a few cliques, Pear street, Congress, Marijaunos etc... but they all claim the same thing as one collectivel "SS Verdugo Flats". WSV is not one entire gang intact. WSV just means Westside San Bernardino the West of the city. There is several seperate varrios from the Westside in the same side hence WSV. But there is no one gang simply called Westside Verdugo, but there however sepearate varrios Calle Siete WSV, Little Counts WSV, Mount Vernon etc....That each essentially operate on its own and not under one main varrio like the Flats.

I would have to say VF is the largest varrio in the city, 7th street is another thats in that discussion.

Shadowplay wrote:I just don't understand what Flats means? Is it just another word for Varrio, or do they call it that because there are 3 seperated neighborhoods?

?? I don't understand what your asking. Flats is the name of the varrio, like any other varrio with Flats in it, its that particular section of the city. There is no 3 separate neighborhoods. There is cliques but they all fall under VF.

Shadowplay wrote:Hey Guys, why do the Flats call it the Flats? Is it some projects or another varrio? Excuse my ignorance. Why Flats?

No projects in VF. There is some old low income Duplex buildings along Mt.vernon near Mill, but no Projects.

I now understand. I just thought that the name Flats meant some type of geographical difference in the way their neighborhood lays out. But now I understand. Thanks for the clarifying that.

Shadowplay wrote:I now understand. I just thought that the name Flats meant some type of geographical difference in the way their neighborhood lays out. But now I understand. Thanks for the clarifying that.

EXACTLY.

NYTE RYDA wrote:

Paid_In_Full wrote:Yeah, the papers be mixing shit up. And it also seems like their always trying to portray VFG as the cities largest latino street gang...when I always thought the largest was WSV

VF is the largest varrio thats intact. They have a few cliques, Pear street, Congress, Marijaunos etc... but they all claim the same thing as one collectivel "SS Verdugo Flats". WSV is not one entire gang intact. WSV just means Westside San Bernardino the West of the city. There is several seperate varrios from the Westside in the same side hence WSV. But there is no one gang simply called Westside Verdugo, but there however sepearate varrios Calle Siete WSV, Little Counts WSV, Mount Vernon etc....That each essentially operate on its own and not under one main varrio like the Flats.

I would have to say VF is the largest varrio in the city, 7th street is another thats in that discussion.

HEY RYDA WHAT WSV VARRIOS GET ALONG AND WICH ONES DONT? ALSO WHO WAS THE FIRST WSV VARRIO?

I can't answer that for you. I would be relying on my own knowledge rather than actual facts. As far as who gets along and who doesn't they all have had there problems. From speaking to someone actually from there, SCO and Counts had some bad blood going on at one point, bodies dropped on each side.

Mount Vernon always gets mentioned as the original varrio on the Westside.

All the WSV's are clicked up....they don't beef like gang vs gang but theirs been killings between westside gangmembers but more on personal type shit.