I know my primo Fu$$y would always post these up so thought I would do it. yet another injunction in Frenso county.
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/9531462p-10421907c.html
Gang targeted in injunction
Parkside Bulldogs put on short leash; rules affect area near Roeding Park.
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Wednesday, December 1, 2004, 6:03 AM)
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One of Fresno's oldest street gangs — the Parkside Bulldogs — is being targeted by a civil injunction that bans members from associating inside a "safety zone" around Roeding Park.
The injunction prohibits Parkside Bulldogs gang members from engaging in criminal activities inside the zone, a roughly 2-square-mile area bounded by Olive, Hughes, Nielsen, Thorne and Palm avenues.
It was filed Nov. 24 but announced Tuesday by District Attorney Elizabeth Egan at a news conference downtown.
"If you have anything — a car, a jacket, a bicycle, jewelry, even just wages from one day's labor, PB will take it from you if they want to take it," according to declarations in support of the injunction filed by Fresno police officer Jesse Ruelas and Anthony Gates, a California Highway Patrol officer. The two are members of Fresno County's anti-gang task force.
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Violators will be arrested on a misdemeanor contempt of court charge and face up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine, said prosecutor Greg Anderson, who argued for the injunction in Fresno County Superior Court. Since the 1970s, the Parkside Bulldogs have committed murders, rapes, robberies, drug sales and other illegal acts, but often residents won't testify for fear of retaliation.
The injunction does not require residents to testify. Police can arrest gang members if officers see them associating; intimidating a person; being near guns, drugs or alcohol; trespassing; or acting as a lookout.
The injunction also could lead to felony charges because gang members often possess guns or drugs, which are felonies, Egan said.
Critics contend the injunction violates the constitutional right to assembly.
Fresno lawyer David Mugridge said officers must do what they can to curb gang violence, but he questions the fairness of the injunction.
On Nov. 24, Superior Court Judge Donald Black granted the permanent injunction. Parkside gang members were not represented by lawyers.
"In an ordered society, it should be above board, with equal playing cards on both sides," Mugridge said, noting that the plaintiffs — the people of California— were represented by Anderson, while the defendants were likely unable to comprehend the ramifications of the injunction.
"Why weren't the defendants given counsel? What are we afraid of?" Mugridge asked.
So far, 21 members of the Parkside Bulldogs have been served with the injunction, police Chief Jerry Dyer said Tuesday at the news conference.
He was joined by Council Member Cynthia Sterling, Sheriff Richard Pierce and CHP Chief Ron Newton.
More members of the 70-member gang will be served with injunction papers once police document criminal activities, Dyer said.
This is Fresno County's second injunction against a gang. In August 2003, the District Attorney's Office won an injunction against the Chankla Bulldogs in Sanger. Since then, crime has dropped in the Sanger safety zone after nearly 20 of the estimated 25 Chankla members were arrested for violating the injunction, Anderson said.
For years, law enforcement agencies in San Jose, Los Angeles, Oxnard and elsewhere have used civil injunctions to curb gang violence.
The state Supreme Court has denied legal challenges to the injunctions.
Anderson said the Parkside Bulldogs were chosen because the gang's actions satisfy the statutory definition of a public nuisance, a key factor in winning the injunction.
Dyer said the Parkside Bulldogs gang is one of the oldest street gangs in Fresno.
In the 1970s, the gang was called the Parkside 14, an arm of Nuestra Familia, or Norteno prison gang. In the 1980s, the Parkside 14 broke away from Nuestra Familia but retained the Norteno color of red, court records say.
Over the years, the Parkside Bulldogs have engaged in violent activity, including the execution slayings of Dorothy Medina and Arlene Sanchez in August 1991.
Then, the Parkside Bulldogs were armed with automatic weapons and explosives as they awaited a turf war with a rival gang. They threw a wild party that led to the rapes of two women.
Medina and Sanchez were murdered to silence them, court records say.
Richard Avila and Jeffrey Spradlin were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Avila's cousin, Johnny Avila, received the death penalty.
The gang's crimes have continued, Anderson said: "When somebody goes to prison, somebody steps up."
Parkside Bulldogs members use guns and knives to rob people, and children and their parents have to live among drug dealing and other violence, the declaration said.
"The local community lives in fear of these urban terrorists, and in fear, the community routinely has to watch these gangsters get high and drunk in public," the declaration said.
Parkside Bulldogs members advertise ownership of the area with graffiti, which also acts as "a flash point for violence because it directs rival gangs looking to shoot up PB," the declaration said.
While some residents inside the "safety zone" said gangs are not a problem, others a few blocks away said the civil injunction is long overdue.
Steven Davis, 32, a refrigerator mechanic, has lived at the corner of Thomas and Safford avenues since 2000. Davis said he has never seen gang activity, adding that the only criminal activity he's known of was a methamphetamine bust at a nearby house.
"That's about the worst thing I've seen in the whole neighborhood," Davis said Tuesday evening.
Several blocks away, on Harrison Avenue, a couple who moved into the neighborhood in July said gang activity is rampant.
"It's heavy here — prostitution, gang members, drugs," said the 39-year-old wife, who declined to give her name.
About a month ago, the couple were in their back yard when they heard footsteps on the street. When they looked outside, four young men were pushing a car down the road. Another young man was in the driver's seat with the headlights off.
The couple called 911, and the suspects were caught after they pushed the car into an alley several hundred feet away. The car was stolen, the couple said.
Car break-ins and gang graffiti are the worst problems, they said. But the woman lives in fear of violence, locking their bedroom door every night.
"I can't stand being here by myself," the woman said. "I think somebody is going to break in here and rape me and kill me."
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/9531462p-10421907c.html
Gang targeted in injunction
Parkside Bulldogs put on short leash; rules affect area near Roeding Park.
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Wednesday, December 1, 2004, 6:03 AM)
E-mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Format
Receive the Daily Bulletin
Subscribe to Print
Join a Forum
One of Fresno's oldest street gangs — the Parkside Bulldogs — is being targeted by a civil injunction that bans members from associating inside a "safety zone" around Roeding Park.
The injunction prohibits Parkside Bulldogs gang members from engaging in criminal activities inside the zone, a roughly 2-square-mile area bounded by Olive, Hughes, Nielsen, Thorne and Palm avenues.
It was filed Nov. 24 but announced Tuesday by District Attorney Elizabeth Egan at a news conference downtown.
"If you have anything — a car, a jacket, a bicycle, jewelry, even just wages from one day's labor, PB will take it from you if they want to take it," according to declarations in support of the injunction filed by Fresno police officer Jesse Ruelas and Anthony Gates, a California Highway Patrol officer. The two are members of Fresno County's anti-gang task force.
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Violators will be arrested on a misdemeanor contempt of court charge and face up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine, said prosecutor Greg Anderson, who argued for the injunction in Fresno County Superior Court. Since the 1970s, the Parkside Bulldogs have committed murders, rapes, robberies, drug sales and other illegal acts, but often residents won't testify for fear of retaliation.
The injunction does not require residents to testify. Police can arrest gang members if officers see them associating; intimidating a person; being near guns, drugs or alcohol; trespassing; or acting as a lookout.
The injunction also could lead to felony charges because gang members often possess guns or drugs, which are felonies, Egan said.
Critics contend the injunction violates the constitutional right to assembly.
Fresno lawyer David Mugridge said officers must do what they can to curb gang violence, but he questions the fairness of the injunction.
On Nov. 24, Superior Court Judge Donald Black granted the permanent injunction. Parkside gang members were not represented by lawyers.
"In an ordered society, it should be above board, with equal playing cards on both sides," Mugridge said, noting that the plaintiffs — the people of California— were represented by Anderson, while the defendants were likely unable to comprehend the ramifications of the injunction.
"Why weren't the defendants given counsel? What are we afraid of?" Mugridge asked.
So far, 21 members of the Parkside Bulldogs have been served with the injunction, police Chief Jerry Dyer said Tuesday at the news conference.
He was joined by Council Member Cynthia Sterling, Sheriff Richard Pierce and CHP Chief Ron Newton.
More members of the 70-member gang will be served with injunction papers once police document criminal activities, Dyer said.
This is Fresno County's second injunction against a gang. In August 2003, the District Attorney's Office won an injunction against the Chankla Bulldogs in Sanger. Since then, crime has dropped in the Sanger safety zone after nearly 20 of the estimated 25 Chankla members were arrested for violating the injunction, Anderson said.
For years, law enforcement agencies in San Jose, Los Angeles, Oxnard and elsewhere have used civil injunctions to curb gang violence.
The state Supreme Court has denied legal challenges to the injunctions.
Anderson said the Parkside Bulldogs were chosen because the gang's actions satisfy the statutory definition of a public nuisance, a key factor in winning the injunction.
Dyer said the Parkside Bulldogs gang is one of the oldest street gangs in Fresno.
In the 1970s, the gang was called the Parkside 14, an arm of Nuestra Familia, or Norteno prison gang. In the 1980s, the Parkside 14 broke away from Nuestra Familia but retained the Norteno color of red, court records say.
Over the years, the Parkside Bulldogs have engaged in violent activity, including the execution slayings of Dorothy Medina and Arlene Sanchez in August 1991.
Then, the Parkside Bulldogs were armed with automatic weapons and explosives as they awaited a turf war with a rival gang. They threw a wild party that led to the rapes of two women.
Medina and Sanchez were murdered to silence them, court records say.
Richard Avila and Jeffrey Spradlin were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Avila's cousin, Johnny Avila, received the death penalty.
The gang's crimes have continued, Anderson said: "When somebody goes to prison, somebody steps up."
Parkside Bulldogs members use guns and knives to rob people, and children and their parents have to live among drug dealing and other violence, the declaration said.
"The local community lives in fear of these urban terrorists, and in fear, the community routinely has to watch these gangsters get high and drunk in public," the declaration said.
Parkside Bulldogs members advertise ownership of the area with graffiti, which also acts as "a flash point for violence because it directs rival gangs looking to shoot up PB," the declaration said.
While some residents inside the "safety zone" said gangs are not a problem, others a few blocks away said the civil injunction is long overdue.
Steven Davis, 32, a refrigerator mechanic, has lived at the corner of Thomas and Safford avenues since 2000. Davis said he has never seen gang activity, adding that the only criminal activity he's known of was a methamphetamine bust at a nearby house.
"That's about the worst thing I've seen in the whole neighborhood," Davis said Tuesday evening.
Several blocks away, on Harrison Avenue, a couple who moved into the neighborhood in July said gang activity is rampant.
"It's heavy here — prostitution, gang members, drugs," said the 39-year-old wife, who declined to give her name.
About a month ago, the couple were in their back yard when they heard footsteps on the street. When they looked outside, four young men were pushing a car down the road. Another young man was in the driver's seat with the headlights off.
The couple called 911, and the suspects were caught after they pushed the car into an alley several hundred feet away. The car was stolen, the couple said.
Car break-ins and gang graffiti are the worst problems, they said. But the woman lives in fear of violence, locking their bedroom door every night.
"I can't stand being here by myself," the woman said. "I think somebody is going to break in here and rape me and kill me."
