Mongrel Mob member entered Black Power-dominated Munro St, in Elgin.More gang members arrived and many were armed with home-made weapons, including garden implements, Senior Sergeant Rodger Gray.At least 30 police responded to emergency calls from worried members of the public.Twelve people were arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour and possession of offensive weapons.A police search of properties in the street resulted in the discovery of two cannabis growing operations and the further arrest of two people on drugs charges.
Most of those charged appeared in Gisborne District Court on Thursday, with a small number yet to appear on Friday."The disappointing thing for me is that it occurred at 10.30am on the first or second day of the school holidays," Gray says."There was a large number of people, including children, who were caught up in this."The message is that any incidents such as this won't be tolerated."

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possible gang-related shooting is under investigation in Elkhart.The shooting happened on Stevens Avenue.Elkhart police say Jaime Benavidez was shot in the hip around 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning.He was taken to the hospital by family members.
Police say the bullet hit a major artery and that Benavidez is in serious condition.
Investigators have interviewed several people that claim to have information about the shooting, but they say most of them have been uncooperative.Elkhart police say Benavidez is a documented gang member.

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20-year-old man identified by police as a leader of a Bounty Hunters Bloods gang was found guilty Thursday of recruiting youths and participating in criminal activity to benefit the gang.Arous J. Phillips was arrested Aug. 4 after police raided five Cradock-area homes looking for evidence of gangs, criminal activity, weapons and stolen items.Several police officers testified during the bench trial that they had observed Phillips and others wearing the red and black beads, bandannas or clothes that denote Bloods gang members.A witness, Anthony Graham, testified that Phillips was a "superior" in the gang. Graham said he had discussed the gang with Phillips for about a week before he was initiated in the summer of 2006. Graham was 15 at the time.Prosecutor Amy Miller asked Grahamwhat gang members do, and he answered: "Try to get rank." He said that was done by committing "missions" such as burglaries and robberies.Graham said Phillips sent him on two of those missions and went with him when he robbed four people in the Camelot neighborhood of Chesapeake. He said Phillips handed him and another gang member a sawed-off shotgun and a rifle to use.Graham and at least one other juvenile were also arrested on charges that included burglary and grand larceny after the August raid. He said he agreed to testify against Phillips as part of a plea agreement.On the stand, Graham explained gang signs that Phillips was flashing in photos that police confiscated.In one photo, introduced into evidence, Phillips was wearing a red bandanna, outlaw-style on his face.Detective K.L. Gavin, who heads the city's gang task force, testified that police are monitoring 36 gangs in the city. Gavin said that he and others in the Police Department have been aware of Phillips' involvement since 2005.He will be sentenced on Feb. 18 and faces a maximum of 15 years.

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Reputed Chula Vista street gang member was ordered held over for trial in last year's shooting death of a 22-year-old woman in front of a Rialto home.
Carlos Silva Bernal was driven to a West Cornell Drive residence on Jan. 31, 2007, got out of a truck and waited as the victim walked toward him, Rialto police officers testified Thursday at a hearing in Fontana Superior Court. Witnesses say Stephanie Ann Lenczyk, who associated with a Rialto street gang, walked from the home toward Bernal, a man she may have had a prior relationship with, according to court testimony. Bernal pulled out a black gun, shot Lenczyk twice, got back into the truck and left. Another man who was at the home pulled the woman to the grass.
Police officers tried to get information from the woman about who shot her. "Bugsy shot me. He shot me twice," Officer Rory Scalf testified he heard Lenczyk say.
She was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, where she died. After hearing the testimony and reviewing exhibits, Judge Jon D. Ferguson ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold over Bernal for trial on one count of murder and related special enhancements. Prosecutors withdrew a second charge, being a felon in possession of a firearm, before the judge made his ruling. Bernal is scheduled to return to court Dec. 29 to be formally arraigned on the charges.
Deputy District Attorney Simon Umscheid said the court hearing went according to his expectations. "We're happy with the results," he said. Police say Lenczyk was an associate of a Rialto street gang. Detective Carl Jones testified he learned during the investigation that the two gangs were in a "pretty heated battle" with each other at the time of the shooting. The weapon used in the shooting was never recovered. Bernal's girlfriend, 24-year-old Crystal Moraga, who was with the defendant in the truck, told police Bernal had been in a prior relationship with Lenczyk, according to Jones. Bernal told police he knew the victim for about seven months but denied having had any relationship with her. He fired two rounds, he told the detective, because Lenczyk had a gun. However, police said their investigation did not reveal that the woman had a weapon. Defense lawyer Ann Cunningham questioned Jones about why police didn't have gunshot residue tests conducted on the victim.
"It never crossed my mind," Jones said. Cunningham declined to comment about the case after the hearing.

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Police say as many as 150 people were inside the main sanctuary of the church at the funeral when a fight broke out between Cross and a rival gang member named Latwan Brown. As of Thursday afternoon, police were still searching for Brown, whom they described as armed and dangerous. But detectives say that precious few of the scores of people who witnessed the fight and, moments later, the shooting, have come forward to tell police what they saw. Police believe that Brown borrowed the gun he allegedly used to shoot Cross from someone else at the church. A lot of people who were there must know who brought that gun to the funeral of a middle-aged Portland woman. Of course, the reluctance to get involved is partly about fear. Cross and Brown, authorities said, are members of two rival sets within the Crips gang. Cross was shot before, on Aug. 3, taking a bullet in his stomach on the 4700 block of North Mississippi Avenue. Yet it won't stop, it won't get safer, in North Portland and other places troubled by gangs, until the people who live there, supported by police, gang outreach counselors, schools and all the rest of us, wherever we live in this city, take a strong, courageous stand against gang violence. Rob Ingram, director of Portland's Office of Youth Violence Prevention, told The Oregonian's Maxine Bernstein: "We need the common folk to stand up and say, 'We don't want this in our community.' How do you go to church on Sundays and feel like it's a sacred place when someone was killed there?" You don't. You can't. The Albina Ministerial Alliance, a group of pastors, will hold a news conference today to denounce the shooting, urge cooperation with police and call for renewed efforts to reduce gang violence. The pastors' leadership is vital. Portland must never become the kind of place that closes its eyes to a gang shooting, a city that hears no evil in the sound of four gunshots echoing in a church sanctuary.

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Members of the Green Street and Bloods gangs allegedly pledged to retaliate against the police officer who shot and killed John Earl Parks of Brockton on Nov. 5, US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said in a written statement.After Brockton officers stopped Parks in an alleged drug deal near Warren Avenue and Green Street, Parks fled on foot and fired a gun at officers, Police Chief William K. Conlon said. Officers returned fire, killing the 25-year-old.After learning of the alleged plot to target the officer, Brockton police arrested 12 suspected gang members on gun and drug-related charges yesterday.Eight Brockton residents - John Goncalves, 22; Placido Pereira, 22; Dennis Afonso, 25; Emmanuel Teixeira, 18; Rodney Gallaway, 29; Embassi Dosanjos, 24; Johnny Richmond, 21; and Daquawn Jones, 18 - were charged with federal offenses ranging from conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine to distribution of crack cocaine within a school zone, Sullivan said. If convicted, the men face up to 20 years' imprisonment, Sullivan said.Four other Brockton men - William Hart, 36, Angel Otero, 19, David Stuart, 18, and Edson Miranda, 29 - were charged on the state level with distributing crack cocaine or possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, Sullivan said. The men could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, the US Attorney said.Conlon said an investigation monitoring violent and drug-related gang activity in the city began earlier this year and would have continued were it not for "imminent danger" against police."It's a relief for our residents," Conlon said. Gangs "have been a plague on the neighborhoods, and the good people of city deserve better."Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said the arrests send a strong message that the community stands with its police officers."We will not tolerate a threat to their safety or to the law-abiding people who they serve," Cruz said.The State Police Gang Unit and Federal Bureau of Investigation, in addition to Brockton police, investigated the cases.FBI Special Agent Warren Bamford emphasized the severity of the charges against the gang members. "The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners, will not rest until we root out the gangs that terrorize our communities," Bamford said.

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The "Nut Cases" gang terrorized Oakland residents in late 2002 and early 2003 by committing numerous murders and robberies, declined to say why he allowed Dorsey-Colbert to plead to the lesser charge.
Oakland woman who reluctantly lured her illicit lover to his execution-style shooting death at the request of her jealous gang-leader husband was sentenced today to 15 years to life in state prison for her second-degree murder conviction.
Aminah "Nay-Nay" Dorsey-Colbert, 30, who was arrested in January 2003, pleaded no contest on June 5 and was sentenced today by Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay.Dorsey-Colbert, who's married to Gregory Colbert Jr., the reputed leader of the "Nut Cases" gang, was charged with murder with the special circumstance of lying in wait in connection with the slaying of youth basketball coach Joseph Mabrey, 36, at the hands of her brother-in-law, Demarcus Ralls, in the 3200 block of Storer Avenue in the Oakland hills on Oct. 24, 2002.According to prosecutor Michael Nieto, Gregory Colbert Jr., 29, ordered the hit after he learned Mabrey was having an affair with his wife while he was in prison.Nieto said Gregory Colbert Jr. hatched an elaborate plot in which Demarcus Ralls posed as Dorsey-Colbert's brother and she pretended that she was having an argument with her husband.Nieto said Dorsey-Colbert made a "damsel in distress" call to Mabrey in which she said she was in trouble and
needed his help at a secluded spot in the Oakland hills.The prosecutor said when Mabrey arrived at the secluded area, Ralls asked him for a light for a cigarette and then shot Mabrey when he wasn't looking.Nieto said Gregory Colbert Jr. watched the shooting incident from a nearby van because he wanted to make sure the murder was carried out.Nieto said Gregory Colbert Jr. ordered his wife to lure Mabrey to his death as a way for her "to redeem herself" for having an affair with Mabrey.
Dorsey-Colbert's lawyer, Gene Peretti, said after the sentencing today that the incident was "a situation she didn't want to get involved in."Peretti said Colbert told his wife that if she didn't call Mabrey to set up the killing then he would kill her."It was either him (Mabrey) or her," Peretti said.He said Dorsey-Colbert was "emotionally upset" about Mabrey's death and described the shooting as "a tragedy all the way around."Ralls, 24, was convicted in 2006 of three counts of first-degree murder, including the murder of Mabrey, one count of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, 17 counts of robbery, one count of kidnapping and one count of shooting into an inhabited dwelling.In the penalty phase of Ralls' trial, prosecutors introduced evidence, including a taped confession by Ralls, that he was responsible for a fifth murder that was committed while he was a juvenile.Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Ralls, but jurors recommended life in prison without parole instead. Ralls was sentenced to four life terms plus 141 years.On March 23, 2007, Colbert was sentenced to 75 years to life in state prison for murdering another member of the gang, 20-year-old Glen Phason, in June 2004.

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From top left, clockwise, the nine Crips members indicted in the Holly Shopping Center fire: Mario Jennings, Marquise Jones, Antwan McCoy, Deangelo Calaway, Corsia Crosby, David Tinsley, Katsina Roybal, Jimmy Hopkins and Mitchell Walker. Walker has not been arrested yet.
Nine members of the Crips street gang have been indicted on charges they burned down the Holly Shopping Center in retaliation for the murder of local Crips founder Michael Asberry, possibly by someone from a rival street gang. The area around the center, also known as Holly Square, at 3365 Holly Street, was a hangout for Bloods gang members. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said at a news conference this morning that he had no doubt the indictment of the nine — eight of whom were arrested Thursday — will impact the Crips. "Obviously this is a large number of individuals who are associated with the Crips gang," Morrissey said. "Any time we do an indictment of this number of people it is going to have an impact on any kind of street gang." According to the indictment, a confrontation between the Crips and Bloods occurred at the Bash Night Club, 1902 Blake St., when it closed in the early hours of May 18. Asberry had been killed in the early hours of May 17 outside an Aurora apartment building by a still-unknown assailant. After the confrontation at Bash, a number of the Crips went to a 7-Eleven store and talked about burning down the Holly Shopping Center because of the killing of Asberry and because the Holly was "known as Bloods' turf," said the indictment. At the 7-Eleven, the group bought bottled drinks, which they filled with gasoline to make Molotov cocktails. They drove to the shopping center, stuffed rags in the bottles, lit the rags and threw the bottles onto the roof of the Holly shopping center, Morrissey said. The fire burned six businesses and leveled the shopping center. The damage was well over $2 million, said the district attorney. Morrissey and Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman said that the arson was captured by a camera on a nearby library. "As you know, this occurred on May 18 about 3:40 a.m., and within four hours we had a videotape to the fire department from a video camera Whitman said.
Morrissey said the video showed that one of the Molotov cocktails rolled off the roof and hit the head of the person who threw it, causing his head to catch fire.
Although that individual can't be identified, Morrissey said other surveillance cameras and photographs are "very helpful" in identifying some of the arsonists.
Investigators from both the Denver Fire Department and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation brought in an accelerant-detection dog who pointed out six areas. Four of the six tested positive for gasoline. Investigators said the case was broken on May 20, when Denver police Cpl. Dan Andrews pulled over a GMC conversion van in the 1400 block of East 37th Avenue for a tail light violation and smelled gasoline coming from the van. The driver was eventually identified as Katsina Roybal, one of the Crips suspected in the Holly fire. Two other members of the Crips gang — Mitchell Walker and James Burleson — were passengers in the van. Inside the van, investigators found the components of Molotov cocktails, including bottles and rags. The district attorney said the investigation had been before the Denver grand jury for several months. The nine are charged with use of explosives or incendiary devices, criminal mischief, first-degree arson, conspiracy and possession of explosives. The people accused of throwing the Molotov cocktails are Burleson, 20; Deangelo Calaway, 19; Mario Jennings, 19; Walker, 18; and Jimmy Hopkins, 22. Roybal, 19; David Tinsley, 22; Corsia Crosby, 20; and Marquis Jones, 22, acted as lookout, according to the grand jury indictment. Morrissey said that what occurred was an attack on the Holly community. "That is one of the older shopping centers. It is kind of the heart there with the police station down the street, the library across the street," said Morrissey. "The Holly is really the place that is the center for the community there. "It is our theory that they were targeting the shopping center," Morrissey said. "I don't think they really cared much about the businesses that were in there. The statement that were trying to make was the Holly itself. I think it was an attack on the community. Hopefully today we are sending a message to them (the Crips)."

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leader of a Tacoma street gang was spoiling for a fight the night of Nov. 15, Pierce County prosecutors contended Thursday. As many as 100 people, many of them associated with a rival gang, were on his turf, celebrating the 16th birthday of a Lincoln High School student at the South End Community Center.Authorities allege Pitra Bay Oeung, 18, wanted to incite a rumble, so he brought some of his subordinates to the center and urged them to attack their rivals.Henry Nhem, 17, reportedly heeded his leader’s call.Prosecutors contend in newly filed charging documents that Nhem pulled out a silver pistol and fired four shots into a crowd that had come outside the community center to confront Oeung’s gang. One bullet hit Phillip G. Oquendo, 18. Oquendo, who also went by the last name Johnson, stumbled back into the community center and later died. Another partygoer was hit in the hand.Prosecutors on Thursday charged Oeung and Nhem with first-degree murder and first-degree assault in the shooting. They pleaded not guilty.Superior Court Judge Rosanne Buckner ordered each jailed in lieu of $2 million bail at the request of deputy prosecutor Jerry Costello, who said both teenagers are “deeply involved in a violent street gang.”Prosecutors also charged four other reported members of Oeung’s gang – Young Hwan Cho, 16; Antara Pok, 17; and two boys, 14 and 15 – with second-degree murder in the case. Prosecutors say in charging documents that the four threw bottles and rocks at their rivals, helping to provoke a situation that later lead to Oquendo’s death.Nhem, Cho and Pok are being prosecuted as adults.The other boys were charged in juvenile court, though their cases could be transferred to adult court after a hearing Dec. 31, deputy prosecutor Fred Wist said.Buckner ordered Cho and Pok, who pleaded not guilty, jailed in lieu of $1 million bail. The other boys won’t be arraigned until after prosecutors decide whether to try them as adults.
Also, a woman who reportedly drove Nhem and others from the scene was charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance. Buckner ordered Alicia Ngo jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.Witnesses described a frightening scene at the community, with scores of young people screaming insults and gang taunts at each other before the shooting, according to court documents.At one point, Oeung spat on one of the people attending the party, infuriating him.Nhem has a history of illegally possessing guns. According to court documents, he’s been convicted three times of unlawfully possessing firearms since 2003.The latest case was last year after he engaged in a gunfight with two soldiers near South 90th and M streets in Tacoma, court records state. Nhem got 45 weeks in juvenile detention for that conviction.Authorities believe the shooting of Oquendo sparked a retaliatory homicide a few hours later. Victor Schwenke was shot to death outside another party in the 5600 block of South Yakima Avenue.Prosecutors have charged Marsele Kenith Henderson, a good friend of Oquendo, with first-degree murder in Schwenke’s death.

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officials charges against the men were possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Police said several have connections to the Gangster Disciples, a notorious Chicago street gang. "These people face very severe criminal charges. This criminal behavior is not just limited to Chicago and middle-class America," Monroe said.
The men arrested were:
* Trevail "Tre" Banks, 26, of 1096 Stonehedge Drive, Schaumburg.
* Shannon "Shine" Bennet, 29, of 1040 E. 80th St., Chicago.
* Kenton Bradley, 33, of 5512 Montibello, Hanover Park.
* Robert Green, 41, of 808 Holyoke Court, Schaumburg.
* Randy Hamlette, 39, of 808 Holyoke Court, Schaumburg.
* Curly Mixon, 24, of 17 S. Porter, Elgin.
* Yuliet Nava, 24, of 334 Dundee Road, Elgin.
* Robert "Big Boy" Wasp, 37, of 1930 Oxford Court, Schaumburg.
* Frederick Woodson, 41, of 36 Grant Circle, Streamwood.
Named as fugitives were Trotter; Corey "Sug" Stewart, 34. of 371 Silva, and Curly Mixon, 24, of 17 S. Porter, both of Elgin. The Cook County State's Attorney also arrested Damien Beamon, of Elgin, with violating state drug laws. FBI arrested 10 northwest suburban residents Tuesday for allegedly operating a large-scale cocaine and crack ring, often doing business at Schaumburg's Woodfield Mall and Streets of Woodfield.
A national manhunt continues for three men also charged in the drug sweep.
Other police departments participating in the case were Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Elgin, Hanover Park, Roselle and Streamwood. Authorities said one drug transaction was recorded by law enforcement officials while a dealer's child practiced football at Veterans Park on Holmes Way and Knollwood Drive on Sept. 6, 2006. Another recorded drug deal was at Wise Hand Care Wash, 1811 W. Wise Road, Schaumburg, on July 5, 2007. On June 15, 2007, drug money was originally to be exchanged at Rainforest Cafe at Woodfield Mall, but then changed to a Mobile gas station at Algonquin and Meacham roads. FBI agent William Monroe said Robert Atkins, of 2229 Mayfair Ave., Westchester, was the lead buyer in the conspiracy. Atkins was the recent owner of Wise Hand Care Wash, and he still owns a Chicago recording studio named Krunch Tyme Entertainment. The three-year investigation resulted in several recorded phone conversations between the men talking about selling automatic weapons, beatings for owed drug money and drug deals going for $22,500 per kilogram.
On July 20, 2007, Vernial Trotter, 35, of 628 Hayward, Streamwood, was recorded talking to Atkins about a someone owing him money. "I'm gonna kill this boy, hell yeah," said Trotter, according to a transcript, to which Atkins allegedly replied, "No, don't kill him, just whoop his (expletive)." "Man, nah, hell no dude, I'm gonna try to choke this boy out," said Trotter, according to the transcript.
The investigation -- called Operation Sitt'n Ducks -- netted 8 kilograms of cocaine, valued at $200,000, said Monroe. He also said more than $100,000 in vehicles were seized. In the Veterans Park buy, the federal complaint stated Trotter told an informant to meet him at Nathan Hale School, 1300 W. Wise Road, Schaumburg, for the football practice, but it was changed to the park. The complaint also said Trotter's wife drove up and parked next to his vehicle and handed him a white plastic bag. Trotter gave the bag to the informant, and the contents later tested positive for 30.8 grams of cocaine and 29.6 grams of crack cocaine. The $1,300 drug buy was audio and video recorded, stated the federal complaint. Monroe said those arrested faced a prison sentence of 10 mandatory years to possible life. "This was a large arrest and another example of a cooperative efforts among law enforcement," said Richard Casler, chief of operations for Schaumburg police.

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Signs point to gang violence in Tuesday's shooting outside the Garfield Community Center that left a young man in critical condition. A 21-year-old man was shot in the face after he and his friends exchanged words with another group of young men outside the center in the 2300 block of East Cherry.The seeds of the shooting may have actually been sown nearly a year ago in another shooting at another locations. The shooting on Jan. 4, sources said, may have been the springboard for a lot of this violence.Nearly a year ago, 17-year-old Allen Joplin was shot and killed when a group of uninvited guests crashed a back-to-school party held for about 100 teens at a rented space at 116 Elliott Avenue West. Witnesses said the fatal shooting was the result of rival gangs from South Seattle and the Central District staking out their turf. "I thought something would happen. So I decided not to go, to stay clear of it," said one teen who wished to remain anonymous. There have been at least four more shootings since Halloween. On Oct. 31, 16-year-old Quincey Coleman was shot and killed outside Garfield High School. His friend was also shot, but survived. It is not known what triggered the Halloween shooting; however, detectives believe it may have been gang or drug-related. On Nov. 22, 16-year-old Daiquan Jones was shot and killed inside Southcenter Mall. Another teen was seriously injured. Barry L. Saunders Jr., 21, has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree assault in the mall shooting. The attorney for Saunders, who pleaded not guilty, said he was merely coming to the aid of his brother, who was being beaten.
You shoot one, you kill another one. It's crazy," said Jones' grandmother. On the night after the mall shooting, two teens were shot and injured outside an apartment complex near the intersection of Rainier Avenue South and South Cloverdale Street.
It was not clear exactly what prompted the shooting. Investigators said after the gunman opened fire, he ran off and most likely jumped into a waiting car. No description of the gunman was available.Police have not said whether the shootings are connected, and they have not confirmed they're gang-related. The one definite connection -- no one close to these cases is talking. That hamstrings police.
"They are crucial, a crucial piece to the puzzle," said police spokesperson Renee Witt. In Tuesday's shooting police are looking for up to four men, but a description was not available. The Seattle Gang Unit is investigating. Last month a police officer was assigned to Garfield High School in response to the crime surge, making it the only school in the city to have a police officer dedicated to the campus.
"We've been increasing our patrols around this area. We've been working real closely with King County's Metro Transit Police because we've been getting reports of problems on the Metro buses following school departure," Asst. Police Chief Nick Metz said.

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Michael Rungen starts his life sentence, the detective whose team brought him to justice, Det Supt Steve Payne vowed to maintain the hunt for those who pulled the trigger and finally ended the life of Yardie gangster Rohan Ricketts after two previous assassination attempts."We will not give up pursuing the other two gunmen. We will not tolerate gun crime," Det Supt Payne said today.
When Ricketts was stabbed, battered and shot dead by at least three men who chased him into the Shahjahan Indian restaurant on Roundhay Road, the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team faced an uphill battle to identify those responsible.There was little to go on. Everybody including witnesses and the gunmen had fled. There began a painstaking enquiry to piece together the events of the evening of April 20 2007.
Ricketts had spent the previous four hours with Carol Harvey just yards from the take-away restaurant in Bayswater Terrace off Roundhay Road, Harehills. He left, it is believed to deal drugs, but returned each time.About 11pm he got out of bed, donned a duffle coat over his bare chest and Carol's flip-flops to make his regular trip to the Shahjahan to get a chicken and chips supper. As he left the restaurant he was confronted by three masked men armed with a knife and two semi-automatic pistols – a 9mm converted Russian-made Bailkal gas gun and a .32 calibre CBC.
The gunmen fired two shots at Ricketts outside the restaurant, some hitting the wall. Ricketts ran inside the take-away pursued by at least two of his attackers.
Cornered, he vaulted the counter in a bid to escape, while the restaurant's owner and a kitchen worker took refuge in a store room.One gunman leapt to the counter top while an accomplice kicked open a counter connecting door and attacked from the side. Ricketts was stabbed in the neck, hit over the head with a frying pan and shot in the chest – the killer bullet exiting his back. Four shots were fired inside the restaurant.Footage from local CCTV cameras was seized and this brought the first breakthrough. Film from a local shop – Bobby's Sweets – showed three men getting out of a dark coloured car in Bayswater Row, a short distance down Roundhay Road. Two were putting weapons in their pockets.This crucial film now drove the inquiry. Officers began detailed research to establish the make, colour and year of the car, while others scrutinised the images of the three men to formulate descriptions.
The car looked like an Astra and Vauxhall.It was a Mark Five produced after 2004 and its wheel trims suggest it was either an 'Expression' or 'Life' trim version and almost new.Several hundred were registered in this area and dealers were contacted including the hire firm 1 Car 1 of Kirkstall, Leeds.Michael Patrick Rungen had rented such a vehicle on March 24 and returned it on April 24.Forensic examination of the Astra's interior found – despite the detailed valeting it had undergone – significant firearms residue and also milk protein. During the shooting small pots of yoghurt used as condiments at the Shahjahan had been spilled and this transferred to the Astra.When he hired the car, Rungen gave his family's home address in Markham Avenue – not his in Weston Drive, Otley, and a mobile phone number. A search of the Markham Avenue house recovered a latex glove containing three rare unfired .32 calibre home-loaded bullets identical to some used at the Shahjahan attack. This was crucial evidence.Less conventional, but equally compelling evidence, came from detailed examination of the CCTV footage of the suspected killers. The car driver was considerably shorter than the others and was bow legged.Film of Rungen caught earlier was shown to top Harley Street podiatrist Haydn Kelly. The ankle and foot expert confirmed the person in both footages was quite short and had a "peculiar stance and gate". Rungen is 5ft 7in tall and had been given 10 years for robbery at Leeds Crown Court in March 1998.Checks on Rungen's mobile showed that it had been operating in the area near to the shooting on the night of the killing.These items were among evidence which finally led to Rungen being charged with Ricketts' murder on April 17 this year.The motive for the killing is suspected to be territorial infighting between Yardies from Jamaica and local gangs

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Two possible gang members were arrested in the fatal shooting of asheriff's deputy who was murdered as he was getting ready to go to work, officials announced
Saturday.Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Juan Escalante, 27, was shot dead outside his parents' home August 2 as he was getting ready to drive to his job at the Men's Central Jail.
Guillermo Hernandez, 20, and Carlos Velasquez, 24, of Los Angeles, were arrested Friday night, the Los Angeles Police Department announced. The suspects were booked and arrested for murder and were being held without bail.Paul M. Weber, the president of police union the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said both men were gang members. A police spokesman would not confirm if the men had gang ties.
It was not immediately known if the men had been appointed attorneys.
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said Escalante was loading a car seat into the family's car when he was shot. He died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Escalante's Cypress Park neighborhood about three miles north of downtown is home to
several gangs.Drive-by attacks where the victim and the shooter don't know each other are not unheard of, but investigators were considering the possibility that Escalante was deliberately targeted because of his work.

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U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks imposed the sentence on Vincent Artuso, 64, following his conviction in October on 41 fraud and racketeering charges involving a lengthy scam against ADT Security Services Inc. The scheme involved several crooked real estate deals that cost ADT, which is part of Tyco International Ltd., at least $11 million and possibly much more, prosecutors said."It was a large-scale, complex, multimillion-dollar scheme," said Assistant U.S. Attorney William T. Shockley. "They were getting a big payday every year. It was like an annuity."Captain of the Gambino crime family's South Florida operations, who prosecutors say has been linked to an infamous hit that led to John Gotti's rise to power, was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in federal prison in a major real estate fraud case.
Artuso was a "made member" of the Gambino family and directed a Palm Beach-based Mafia crew that included his own son, Shockley said. The prosecutor cited FBI affidavits and other evidence indicating that Artuso was present on Dec. 16, 1985 when former Gambino boss Paul Castellano was gunned down in front of a Manhattan steakhouse — allegedly on Gotti's orders.Shockley said Artuso was never prosecuted for the killing but had used a known penchant for violence as a form of intimidation to keep subordinates in line."That's just the way the mob works," the prosecutor said. "He's behind the scenes, calling the shots."The dapper Gotti, known as the "Teflon Don" for his ability to avoid criminal convictions, was finally convicted in 1992 of racketeering and murder charges and died in prison a decade later.At the Miami sentencing hearing, defense attorneys sought to minimize the Mafia references, arguing there was little direct testimony during a three-week trial linking Artuso and the others to the Gambinos. They claimed prosecutors used rumors and legends against the men."This wasn't an organized crime family as the government would have you believe," said Allen Kaiser, attorney for co-defendant Philip Forgione, who was awaiting sentencing.The four men and a former ADT employee were convicted of defrauding the security company through real-estate deals in which the Gambino crew bought ADT office buildings far below market value, then leased them back to the company at inflated prices. ADT paid the men millions of dollars in excess lease payments over a five-year period, trial testimony showed.Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of more than $20 million from the defendants, while defense attorneys say the amount should be about $9.5 million. Middlebrooks said he would decide the exact amount later.

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13 arrests were made Friday at residences in Denville, Dover, Randolph, Rockaway, Victory Gardens and Wharton, as part of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods, a statewide initiative targeting criminal street gangs.
More than 100 officers from 18 agencies participated in the 6 a.m. bust, which was the third phase of an "aggressive mission to cripple street gangs' command structure by taking down leaders and high-ranking associates," county Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said during a news conference Monday afternoon.Since August, Morris authorities have arrested 32 individuals from Morris and Essex counties on 286 charges, and seized $1.35 million in cocaine and heroin and 33 firearms, including assault rifles and high-powered weapons."It's a hit-them-when-they-are-down philosophy. We used a variety of undercover infiltration methods, changing things up like a boxer so they did not become accustomed to our methods of operation," Bianchi said. "They tried to resurrect their business after we already hobbled them, and now we hit them again, coming in like an aftershock. Now they are done, out, dismantled."
Authorities said Carlos M. Madera, 29, of Newark, was the leader of one drug operation. He was charged with 23 offenses that include possession and distribution of cocaine and is being held at Morris County jail on $350,000 bail.
Also arrested was his father, Carlos Madera Sr., 48, also of Newark, another Newark individual, six individuals from Dover, one from Landing, one from Morris Plains, one from Victory Gardens and another who was in Morris County jail.Those arrested include members of the Latin Kings, Bloods, MS-13 and Neta gangs, Bianchi said.
The arrests also included 23-year-old Luis Vasquez of Victory Gardens and his mother, Lilybette Garcia, 42, of Dover.The three-month investigation stems from an Oct. 30, 2007, Rockaway shooting that involved a man flashing a semi-automatic handgun during an argument that led authorities to Carlos G. Gonzalez Jr. During the investigation, police learned Gonzalez was operating a competing drug dealing operation against his father, Carlos G. Gonzalez Sr,. "using fear, intimidation and violence with guns as everyday business tactics."On Aug. 14, there was a drive-by shooting on Prospect Street in Dover with five shots fired from a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun that missed their intended target, Luis Vazquez, 23, of Victory Gardens. Bianchi said the junior Gonzalez was responsible for the shooting.On Aug. 18, authorities completed their first raid, making arrests in Dover, Randolph and Wharton, seizing numerous firearms and $250,000 in drugs packaged for distribution and dismantling two major drug enterprises operating throughout the county.
That operation was followed by another on Oct. 17, where authorities executed search warrants in Denville, Dover, Victory Gardens and Wharton. Investigators uncovered a substantial amount of illegal weapons -- assault rifles, weapons with silencers and high powered scopes along with a significant amount of high capacity ammunition magazines.Bianchi credited the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Morris County Sheriff's Office, New Jersey State Police and police from Denville, Dover, Randolph and Wharton in the arrests."The citizens of Morris County are safer today as a result of the efforts of these fine law enforcement personnel," Bianchi said. "As it is the position of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, my administration will not stop here in terms of gaining additional investigative intelligence to attack other criminal enterprises. And we will aggressively prosecute those who were arrested in these street gang, guns and drug dealing networks."

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Sean Mercer was just 16 when he fired the fatal shot but was already a hardened criminal steeped in the drug-dealing violence of Liverpool. Rhys was 11 and obsessed with football. He died in his mother's arms.Teenage gang leader who gunned down innocent schoolboy Rhys Jones was convicted of murder today.Mercer, now 18, stood trial after police finally cracked the wall of silence in the city that had protected him. As Rhys's parents Stephen and Melanie Jones looked on, six other thugs were also convicted of helping Mercer cover up after the shooting.They are James Yates, 20, Nathan Quinn, 18, Melvin Coy, 24, Gary Kays, 25, Dean Kelly, 17, and a youth aged 16 known as M who cannot be named because of his age. Mercer faces the juvenile equivalent of a life sentence when all the defendants are sentenced later at Liverpool Crown Court by Mr Justice Irwin.Rhys's father welcomed the conviction of Mercer, saying: "Finally justice has been done for Rhys."
The murder in August last year shocked a nation already weary of inner-city gun crime. He had been walking home from under-12 football practice when he was hit by the second of three shots fired across the car park of the Fire Tree pub in Croxteth.
Mercer, a leader of the Crocky of Croxteth Crew, was aiming at members of the rival Nogga Dogz gang from Norris Green. Hooded and standing astride his silver Hardrock bike, he took aim and fired again at his target even when Rhys lay dying, a bullet in his neck.Mercer cycled off and ordered his gang to hide the weapon, a First World War .455 Smith & Wesson, and drive him to a disused factory in Kirby where he washed down in petrol to destroy evidence. Such was the horrified reaction in Liverpool that dozens anonymously named Mercer as the killer and his name was posted on the internet, YouTube and in graffitti all over Liverpool. But nobody was prepared to stand up with real evidence.Mercer enjoyed a cloak of protection - partly because of fears of gangland reprisal and partly because of Merseyside's reluctance to be branded a "grass". The breakthrough came when a tip-off led to the murder weapon being found and a key witness known as X was offered immunity from prosecution in return for giving evidence against Mercer and the gang.In a conversation bugged by police, Yates talked about the shooting of Rhys and who supplied the gun. He said: "I bought that gun three years ago. End of story. What? What can they prove? Nothing."The murder of Rhys was the culmination of three years of violence between the two gangs in a turf war over drug dealing.The war started with the shooting of a 17-year-old "Crocky" and within hours shots were fired at homes in Norris Green. : "It was like waking up in the middle of th Alamo."Liam "Snigger" Smith, leader of the Nogga Dogz, was then shot as he left prison and Rhys was killed hours before the first anniversary of this attack.

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Board of Licenses acted Monday to close Club Passion and Level II pending an emergency hearing on Wednesday. A Boston man, 24-year-old Anthony Parrish, was fatally shot early Sunday near Club Passion. A second man was wounded in the incident. Twenty-two-year-old Jeremy Olearnick, of Norwich, Conn., was stabbed to death in a parking lot near the Level II dance club on Dec. 6. Two men were arrested in connection with that attack. Both killings occurred at or shortly after closing time for the clubs.

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Elizabeth City police have arrested three street gang members in connection with a shooting Saturday that sent a member of a rival gang to the hospital with a leg wound. Maurice Bowser, 19, of the 200 block of Queen Street, was charged Monday with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, Sgt. Gary Bray of the Elizabeth City Police Department said. Also arrested in the incident were Joey Lamar White, 20, of Trinkaloe Road, and Snody Slade Jr., 19, of the 600 block of Cedar Street. Both were charged with felony solicitation to commit a felony. All three men are believed to be members of the Bloods street gang and all are charged in connection with the shooting of Antione Williams, a member of the rival gang, the Crips. According to Bray, the men were standing in the vicinity of B Street’s intersection with Herrington Road about 3 p.m. Saturday when a vehicle in which Williams was a passenger pulled up nearby.
After an argument ensued, Bowser allegedly fired several rounds in the direction of the vehicle. Two of the bullets hit the car; one passed through the car and struck Williams in the leg, Bray said. Police say between six and eight shots were fired in the incident. Williams, who is in his late teens or early 20s, was treated for a leg wound at Albemarle Hospital and then released, Bray said. Police expect to arrest four others in the incident on charges of solicitation to commit a felony, Bray said. The charge is similar to a conspiracy charge in that those charged are not those who pull the trigger but are still held responsible for the crime, he said.
“In my opinion, it fits what happens in this investigation,” Bray said of the charge. He hopes the charges send a message to gang members that participating in crimes have consequences. “We’re going to charge people with every charge we can charge them with under the law,” Bray said. “...We’re pretty much just sick of this shooting and all this violence.” Bowser is being held at Albemarle District Jail in lieu of a $1 million secured bond. White and Slade are each being held in lieu of $50,000 bonds.
According to Bray, Bowser has an extensive criminal record. Police are also seeking to charge him in connection with a shooting last year on Elizabeth Street in which a child was injured. He hopes that Bowser’s combined charges will result in a federal indictment.
“He’s pretty much showed that he really doesn’t care who he’s shooting at,” Bray said.

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Italian police on Monday made a major narcotics bust they said showed that Sicily's Mafia was still heavily involved in the drugs trade.In recent years there has been a slew of reports claiming the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta has largely taken over the European cocaine trade from its elder sister in Sicily.But the results of Monday's operation contradicted this, said the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's transnational crime envoy, Carlo Vizzini.''This operation shows that Cosa Nostra is still a major player in drugs,'' said Vizzini, who is also a member of Italy's parliamentary anti-Mafia commission.''Police have caught old and new Mafiosi in this together. Leopards can't change their spots''.''Sicily is becoming, once again, a key cross-roads for the international drugs trade''.Vizzini said the Mafia had ''once again'' shown its transnational nature.He called for ''new norms'' to combat money laundering.Palermo Anti-Mafia investigator Antonio Ingrao said the operation showed that ''the activities of Sicilian crime organisations are increasingly projected towards international horizons''.He said the drugs business, ''today, more than ever, has a strategic role because it allows criminals from different countries to work together''.At least one major boss was implicated in the bust, in which 25 people were arrested, police said.The gang allegedly flew in the drugs in from Argentina via airports in Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam and London, where it was gathered, flown on to Milan and sent down to Palermo by train.The traffickers used airports where they thought controls were easier to trick, police said.French police were involved in Monday's operation, which also netted thousands of euros in counterfeit bills.

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Ruben "Nite Owl"Castro, 46, is a leader, or carnal, of the Mexican Mafia, also known as the "La Eme" prison gang. Authorities say Castro controls two cliques of the 18th Street gang -- the Shatto Park Locos and the Hoover Locos. Castro is alleged to have run those gang cliques from a federal maximum-security prison in Colorado, where he is serving multiple life terms and was recently sentenced to an additional 27 years and three months for racketeering. Prosecutors say that from behind bars, Martinez, another La Eme carnal, allegedly made as much as $40,000 a month from criminal activity.Enriquez's childhood does not fit the Dickensian template one would expect from a sociopathic hit man. He grew up in a predominantly white suburban Cerritos neighborhood, in a home with two parents who had immigrated here from Mexico. His father, an ambitious, hard-working man who eventually owned a custom furniture factory and dabbled in commercial real estate, had his faults, but he clearly cared for his son and despaired deeply when he went astray. Enriquez quit school in the ninth grade and, along with his older brother, joined a street gang in nearby Artesia. After briefly working for his father, he quit, began slamming heroin and pulling holdups to pay for his habit. He was arrested after one bungled job and was soon tied to a host of others, because of their similar MOs as well as Enriquez's distinctive tattoos. He pleaded guilty to 21 counts of robbery and was sentenced to seven years in state prison. Legs chained, hands cuffed and wearing a red jumpsuit, he was loaded on the "Gray Goose" -- the prison bus -- and locked up at what was then known as Soledad State Prison. He was 18 years old.Shortly after arriving at Soledad, Enriquez and his cellmate spotted a member of Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "Our Family"), a prison gang from Northern California and a deadly La Eme rival. They beat him on the head with a shaving cream can and robbed him. A member of the Mexican Mafia sent him a few cigarettes and a note, welcoming him. He liked Enriquez's style. When Enriquez was transferred to another prison, two men approached him on the yard. They told him they wanted him and a young convict named "Puppet" to "do a hit" on "Angel," a Santa Monica gangbanger. They didn't tell him why and he didn't ask."Puppet grabbed Angel and Boxer just started stabbing him over and over until the untaped plastic handle slid up to cover the point of the shank and made it no longer effective," Blatchford writes. "That's the only thing that saved Angel's life . . . It was Boxer's first hit. 'It was then I knew I was on the path. I was being looked at [by Eme]. I was honored that I was picked for the mission and exhilarated by the immediate recognition I received on the yard as a 'big homeboy.' " He continued "putting in work," and was soon made a carnal, or leader. Eventually, he was released from prison but within a few years was sent back for life. He killed a rival carnal who was on a Mexican Mafia hit list and ordered the shooting of a female drug dealer. Enriquez was a shot-caller during many significant events in La Eme's history, such as when leaders in the early 1990s ordered a halt in drive-by shootings against other Latinos, and when they expanded the gang's reach and financial base by "taxing" drug dealers. One gangster Blatchford describes was sentenced to life for -- in a phrase that sums up the senselessness and inanity of the violence -- "murdering a murderer who had offended another murderer."The Mexican Mafia -- like its Italian counterpart -- is better at promulgating the myth of the brotherhood than generating actual loyalty. Enriquez's story reveals that, ultimately, La Eme members have four destinations. The lucky ones die in their cells. The others either get capped on the street, shanked in the yard, or they become snitches. Enriquez was no different. After a decade at Pelican Bay State Prison's secure housing unit, he is now in a witness protection program for cooperating inmates. Enriquez is hidden away at an unnamed prison, somewhere in the United States, to keep him away from the many carnales he testified against.

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