Young Guns, Stolen Lives » gang violence

Fight Leads To Gunfire At South Seattle Party

admin — Sat, 08 May 2010 03:08:03 +0000

The police report provides more details about a giant shootout outside a south Seattle party April 25 in which one teenager was shot in the leg and six other people were arrested after a gang-fueled brawl that included gunfire and many roving fights.

It all began at a huge party with over 100 people at a residence near MLK Jr. Way and S. Hudson St., a couple blocks south of the Columbia City light rail station. Several fights had already started in the area, and police mobilized to handle the anticipated trouble.

One 15-year-old partygoer heard a disturbance outside around 11:30 p.m. and went to the front window of the house too observe. Small arms fire started and he was shot in the shin. Residents of the house called 911 to report that shots had been fired into the house.

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Tacoma gang roundup strains public defenders

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:44:15 +0000

From KOMO News:

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) – Last week’s crackdown on suspected members of the Hilltop Crips street gang has become a headache for Michael Kawamura.

The chief of Pierce County’s Department of Assigned Counsel must find defense lawyers to represent the 32 men charged with a variety of crimes stemming from an 18-month investigation.

All the defendants were declared indigent during their first court appearance. That means they qualify for public defense.

Kawamura said he’s most likely going to need help from outside the county as his staff of more than 60 public defenders might be precluded from representing the men because of potential conflicts of interest.

The trick is finding attorneys who have not represented more than one of the defendants – most of whom already have criminal records – or any witnesses in the case in the past.

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Wave Of Violence Leads To Gang Arrests

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:09:42 +0000

From the Tacoma News Tribune:

Tacoma police, federal agents and corrections officers served a series of early-morning search warrants today and arrested eight suspected members of a Tacoma street gang accused in a number of violent crimes dating back more than a year.

They continue to search for eight more suspects, Tacoma police reported.

In all, 32 members of the Hilltop Crips have been charged in Pierce County Superior Court with criminal conspiracy and other crimes. Some of them were already in custody; others have been arrested in the past week. Most have prior felony convictions.

Investigators have tied them to robberies, assaults, thefts, drug activity and driveby shootings since mid-2008, police reported. Most of the incidents occurred in the city.

The arrests were part of a joint investigation by the Tacoma Police Department, FBI’s South Sound Gang Task Force and state Department of Corrections.