A Norteno gang member named David "Chavo" Chavez is facing murder and assault charges after being arrested in connection with the September 19th homicide of Jose "Chema" Rodriguez, that took place in Toppenish, Washington. The Yakima Herald reports the attack was a retaliation for a vehicle vandalism that happened a few days prior to one of Chavez's friends. This was Toppenish's 1st homicide of the year 2012.
The Ontario, Oregon Police Department released their 2011 annual report. With it they identified six active gangs in their city. I didn't have three of the gangs listed on my website, (Dominguez Varrio, Little Valley Lokotes, and Nortenos 14). I have updated my listing with those three now on there. Click the link below to read their annual report. http://www.ontariooregon.org/uploads/Police_911/Master%20Plan/2011%20Annual%20Report.pdf -Brad- I'm trying to keep on top of this latest violence in South Seattle. I've been getting a lot of emails and such about this. I believe there is some kind of a gang tie to this. The older victim has been confirmed at George "P-Nutt" Hendricks, he was one of the original 74 Hoover members in Seattle. The second victim is Lucky Mike Dozier. It is said he was from Sacramento, California. I will update my website with more information as I come across it. Be Safe! -Brad- Hey everyone, a lot of different things going on this past week. The City of Yakima reported their 2nd gang homicide of the year. A "South Side Familia 13" gang member was shot and killed over the weekend. Also I've been following a gang story out of Eugene, Oregon. I guess two rival gangs "West Side Piru" and "S/S Playboys 13" were involved in some potential gun play. I'm really hoping I can get out and take graffiti photos this Saturday. My target area will be Tacoma-Lakewood, and Federal Way. Then in about 2 weeks I'm going to try my best to make it out to Grant County. That all depends on weather conditions and my car. Anyways thanks for following and check back later! -Brad Early this week the King County sheriff told the city, county and media there is a "GANG WAR" playing out on the streets of South King County. They blame 6 rival Latino gangs for the latest gunplay at both the Kent Lowrider show, and then at a apartment on Kent's East Hill. Because of this I've now had the media, friends, and gang members asking what gangs are taking part in this gang war? I had to sit back and think about this, because I wasn't aware of any gang war taking place in South King County. Yeah shootings happen every so often, but doesn't wars consist of casualties? As far as I know nobody has been killed due to this gang war, the streets aren't being riddled with gunfire every night, buildings aren't being covered in gang graffiti everywhere you look. You want to see a gang war? Take a quick 3 hour drive east to Yakima, Sunnyside or Pasco. You will see first hand a gang war taking place over there. But to get back to answering your guys' question as to who is involved in this gang war, I don't know, but what I can do is tell you who I THINK the police are talking about. There aren't that many Latino gangs in South King County, so I have a pretty good idea who they are talking about, since they won't flat out tell us who is putting "innocent people" at risk as they say. These are my GUESSES * Little Valley Lokotes 13 (LVL)- originated in Yakima County, now they have members all over the 206 & 253 area code. Very violent, organized and shouldn't be doubted. * Vatos Locos 13 (VL)- one of the original Mexican gangs in the Seattle area, they have spread all over the Puget Sound from Bellevue to Kent to Tacoma and everywhere in between. * S/S Playboy Surenos 13 (PBS)- been around for years, originated in Los Angeles, and still have connections to the PBS cliques down there. I find these guys mostly in the Kent/Auburn area. * Rancho San Pedro 13 (RSP)- originated in San Pedro, CA, have been operating in Auburn's Southeast neighborhood for several years now. Also known to have members in Kent, and I've been finding their graffiti in Seattle now. * El Monte Flores 13 (EMF)- originated in El Monte, CA, have been operating in Burien for some time now, found their graffiti in Des Moines recently. EMF is part of the Sureño alliance and fiercely loyal to the infamous Mexican Mafia prison gang. They have a long history of gang assaults including many against law enforcement. * Other gangs worth noting is "King Underground Surenos 13", and "South Side Clicka 13". I don't have much info on either of these gangs, but I've heard their name thrown around more than once. Both operate in the Federal Way and Kent areas. This week I've been keeping close track of a big news story out of Wenatchee. One week ago two little boys were killed in a house fire. WPD are calling it a arson/homicide that was gang motivated. So far they have kept quiet on what gang was targeted, but a unidentified source has told me that "Brick City 13" gang members occupied the home. I plan on traveling to Wenatchee this weekend to see what I can dig up. Also last night Portland Police were investigating yet another gang-related homicide. By my count it was Portland's 8th gang homicide this year, far outpacing any other Northwest city. The victim has been identified as Vinesh "Scrappy-Ru" Prasad, 19-years old. From my research I have been able to figure out the gang he belonged to was "Lok'd Out Piru", a Blood gang in Portland. That's all for now, but check back soon for updated info! -Brad- Today I posted the Yakima gang page! Check out the website for more updates in the future. Also I'm following up on a shooting in Wapato, it seems like it was done in retaliation to the homicide in Yakima on Friday. Also down in Medford, Oregon they had a large gang brawl yesterday, one of the guys injured is the brother to a Norteno member that was murdered in June. It's gonna be a busy summer! -Brad- I'm following up on several things this Sunday evening. There has been 3 potential gang-related homicides in the past week. I have came across little info on them. Joaquin Serrano, 23 was shot and killed near Moses Lake on April 17th. Shiloh Hampton, 14 was shot and killed in Portland on April 20th. And then this past Friday, Adan Beltran, 25 was shot and killed in Quincy on April 22nd. Someone said South Side Locos were arrested for Beltran's death. Also I just was in Yakima this weekend, and on Saturday night, two people were shot in La Raza gang territory. I heard one was shot in the head, the other was shot in the back several times. No updates on their condition as of now. One last thing, be sure to check the Flickr page for my latest graffiti photos. I found several "Doble Gang" tags this weekend. -Brad- http://www.flickr.com/photos/northwestgangs/  Yakima Herald-Republic 04/20/2011 By Mark Morey & David Lester YAKIMA, Wash. -- The man who Mexican authorities say is a leader in a violent drug cartel responsible for the deaths of more than 200 people once lived in the Tieton area, friends and acquaintances said Tuesday. The man, identified as 34-year-old Martin Omar Estrada Luna, was arrested Saturday by the Mexican navy. Several other suspected members of the Los Zetas drug cartel were also arrested. Friends and acquaintances in the Yakima Valley say the man paraded before the Mexican media Sunday had plenty of run-ins with authorities here before being deported. They and local law enforcement officials said Tuesday the Estrada they knew was headed for trouble at a young age. He dropped out of school and took up a life of crime. "Martin made his own choices. He went where the streets took him," said to a close boyhood friend who works in Yakima and asked not to be identified. Tieton police Chief Jeff Ketchum said he has known Estrada since Ketchem started working for the police department in 1994, about a year after Estrada started racking up his first criminal charges in juvenile court. "I would label Martin as a career criminal. He got away with a lot of stuff. He got named in a lot of stuff, but you could never pin it on him," Ketchum said. Mexican authorities arrested Estrada in a house Saturday in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the state of Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. But both acquaintances and police officials question whether Estrada could have actually risen to a post as high in the cartel as Mexican authorities allege. Mexican authorities, who put up a $1.2 million bounty for his arrest, said Estrada was one of the leaders of the Zetas' San Fernando cell, which they blame for killing more than 200 people found in mass graves in Tamaulipas. Authorities there began uncovering bodies in mass graves in early April following reports that passengers were being pulled off buses at gunpoint in the township of San Fernando. There has been speculation that the Zetas gang was forcibly recruiting extra members for its fight against the rival Gulf cartel over access to key drug trafficking routes into the United States. As of last week, 145 bodies had been found in 26 graves. San Fernando is the same place where 72 Central and South American migrants were found slaughtered last August. It was unclear when Estrada, who was last deported in 2009, would have built such strong ties to one of Mexico's leading drug gangs. "I can't see it, but who knows? I don't know what the investigation part of it established. If they have that, who knows?" Ketchum said. Local records show him falling into the gang life instead of making it to school with any sort of regularity. Acquaintances said Estrada left the Highland School District well before he would have graduated in 1995. That year, he pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary in connection with the theft of a Ford Taurus from the school district. The sentencing judge ordered him not to have any contact with district schools as part of the plea. Yakima County Superior Court records listed him as unemployed; the friend says Estrada supported himself in the drug trade. Ketchum said Estrada openly admitted to being a gang member, and court records show "El Kilo" as his nickname in the 1990s. The friend said Estrada picked up the nickname from a fragment of a lyric in a rap song by the late rapper Eazy-E. Besides the burglary charge, his adult felony convictions in Yakima County involved a burglary and for brandishing a knife in Tieton. When he was sentenced in 2006 for an immigration violation, federal prosecutors pointed out that he had managed to amass 16 felony and misdemeanor convictions. Records show he has multiple aliases, including Estrada-Delamora, the name he was charged under in federal court. "Mr. Estrada-Delamora has not learned how to live in society without preying on others," an assistant U.S. attorney wrote in a request for a higher sentence. "To not convince him it is not in his best interests to not return to the United States is simply going to insure there are going to be additional victims of his criminal conduct." Estrada was ultimately sentenced to 41 months for returning to the United States a third time after being deported twice before. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday that he was deported in 2009 from Reno, Nev., after completing his sentence. The ICE database shows no contact with Estrada since that last deportation. However, the friend of Estrada said the last time they had contact, Estrada was living in Laredo, Texas, just across the border from Nuevo Laredo. The friend said he encouraged Estrada to be a good person and to reconnect with his young daughters, who still live in the Yakima Valley. Estrada's ex-wife, who also still lives in the Yakima area, declined to comment Tuesday. Other relatives could not be reached or did not respond to messages. Regardless of his history and the accusations against him, the friend said Estrada had another side to him. "He was a nice guy. He would let you borrow money, his car or his clothes," the man said. "He would let you stay at his house." But he said Estrada always wanted to be a leader, not a follower. Ketchum said he occasionally checked a MySpace account believed to be Estrada's. Pictures on that account show a heavily tattooed Estrada, consistent with the description remembered by Ketchum and a Yakima County sheriff's deputy who once arrested him. | You can email me at:
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