SAN MARTIN
– A local gangster pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly
weapon in an April 25 stabbing and beating of a rival gang member
on East Eighth Street. He entered the plea Thursday in a San Martin
courtroom.
SAN MARTIN – A local gangster pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon in an April 25 stabbing and beating of a rival gang member on East Eighth Street. He entered the plea Thursday in a San Martin courtroom.
Witnesses said Gerardo Ortiz Magaña aided and abetted the assault, but it was a young man who looked like a juvenile who wielded the knife, according to prosecuting attorney Stuart Scott.
About six people assaulted the victim, Scott said. Magaña was the only one arrested.
The 21-year-old is expected to serve three years in prison, Scott said. Judge Kenneth Shapero will sentence him Aug. 9.
Magaña is a member of the “Calle Ocho,” i.e. Eighth Street, Sureño gang, according to Scott and court documents. The victim of the attack was a known member of a Norteño gang, Scott said. Gilroy police never released the victim’s identity.
Gilroy gangs generally fall into two categories: Norteño and Sureño. Norteños, or “northerners,” wear red and are usually at least second-generation Mexican-Americans, whereas Sureños, or “southerners,” wear blue and are usually first-generation immigrants who speak Spanish.
East Eighth Street is historically a Sureño stronghold, but pressure by the Gilroy police Anti-Crime Team over the last decade has largely splintered the old gang territories and reduced gang activity significantly.
The stabbing to which Magaña admitted involvement is the only major outbreak of gang violence on East Eighth Street since October 2002. Residents have taken their neighborhood into their own hands and organized the East Eighth Street Neighborhood Association. Now, the street is more often host to block parties than stabbings and shootings.
The attack took place at 6:30 p.m. outside the Pacheco Pass Motel on East Eighth at Old Gilroy Street. Police said the victim was able to break free from his assailants and ran bleeding to a nearby apartment complex to summon help.
Police originally arrested Magaña on suspicion of attempted murder, but the district attorney’s office pressed for the lesser assault charge, enhanced because the crime was for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
