Gang member claims attacks will likely continue; Anti-Crime Team
on high alert and prepared to keep streets safe
Gilroy – Police are beefing up suppression tactics in an attempt to squash a recent rise in violent gang activity. In response to two shootings and two separate beatings of innocent victims within a recent one-week span, the Anti-Crime Team is on high alert trying to keep the streets safe.
“We’re out there everyday, but now these guys have really raised the bar so we’re going to respond appropriately,” said ACT Investigator Joseph Deras.
Police declined to reveal specific tactics they’ll be using to quell the uprisings.
But one gang member, who called the Dispatch Wednesday, said attacks will continue.
“Most likely it’s just going to happen again,” he said. Within an hour, members of rival gangs usually know who is responsible, he said.
In the most recent incident, a 23-year-old Gilroy gang member was shot while driving with another gang member on Sargent Street about 3:40pm Monday. The man suffered a single gunshot wound to the upper thigh and was recovering in a San Jose area hospital Thursday. Witnesses told police the suspects drove past in a champagne colored Lexus and a gunman wearing a red bandana fired multiple shots at the victims.
The brazen afternoon shooting bodes the question of retaliation by rival gang members.
“No insult goes unanswered,” said ACT Investigator Randy Bentson. “We’re stepping it up a bit. We’ve definitely seen an increase in gang activity in the past six months. It started somewhere and it’s started snowballing.”
According to police, retaliation is often performed by rival gang members who know little of the original incident.
“They may not even know the victim,” Bentson said. “They’re just looking for someone to retaliate against and they don’t often know the person they are retaliating for, and they don’t know who they’re retaliating against.”
And sometimes, innocent people are injured in the process.
This may be the case of three attacks this month.
In the early morning hours Sunday, a 25-year-old Santa Cruz man was shot in the leg after exiting the drive-through at Jack in the Box on First Street. The man is not associated with any gangs and police are uncertain why he was targeted.
Later in the afternoon, a man and his son were jumped while playing handball at Las Animas Park. A group of gang members had approached and asked him if he claimed an affiliation with a gang. When he denied it, the teens beat him and the 12-year-old son when he attempted to intervene, police said.
Five teens were arrested in connection with the incident at Las Animas Sunday and police are working on several leads in the other cases, Deras said.
During rush hour April 12, a 19-year-old teen walking with his uncle along First Street was attacked by four men who pulled up along the sidewalk in a small sedan and beat him with a baseball bat. Police believe the teen may have been targeted for the color T-shirt he was wearing. He is not linked to any gangs, police said.
Gang activity typically runs in a pattern of dips and peaks and Gilroy is currently in a period of upswing, police explained.
To combat the recent surge, police plan to increase their presence on the streets.
“It could just be the weather – people are tired of being cooped up,” Deras said. “We just want to cut off activity and break that cycle right away. And this group (of ACT members) is good at that.”
2006 gang activity
– April 17, 2006: 23-year-old Gilroy man shot in the leg on Broadway.
– April 16, 2006: A man and his son attacked while playing handball at Las Animas Park by gang members.
– April 16, 2006: A 25-year-old Santa Cruz man shot after leaving the drive-through at Jack in the Box.
– April 12, 2006: A 19-year-old man jumped while walking down First Street with his uncle.
– Feb. 13, 2006: 16-year-old San Jose teen stabbed at intersection of Bolsa Road and Garlic Farm Way.
