Gangs

Rene Antonio Lobos Pleads Guilty in Halloween 2009 Slaying of Joshua Steven Rodriguez

An 18-year-old--who at 15 was charged as an adult for the murder of a La Habra teen beaten and stabbed to death at a Halloween night 2009 house party--pleaded guilty last week to voluntary manslaughter with a sentencing enhancement for gang activity.Rene Antonio Lobos, also of La Habra, was immediat ... More >>

Anaheim Police Association President: We Told You Manuel Diaz Killing Was Justified

The president of the Anaheim Police Association (APA) has issued a statement in support of Wednesday's announcement by the Orange County District Attorney that there will be no criminal charges against an officer who shot and killed an unarmed gang member in July 2012."We are very pleased that our o ... More >>

Orange County Killer, 14, Calls His 40-Year Punishment Cruel & Unusual

In June 2010, Buena Park mobile home resident Andrew Cervantes (AKA "Tank") aged four years in an instant when--at the age of 14 and in the eighth grade--he paused a Santa Ana bicycle ride to buy candy to ask another teenage hoodlum, Manual Orozco, a gang-world question: "Where you from?" Cerva ... More >>

Joseph Baez Faces Trial in Fatal Shooting of OC's First Murder Victim of 2010

A murder trial begins in Santa Ana this morning for the alleged partner in crime of a previously convicted fellow Orange resident who, while navigating the court process from Orange County Jail, was charged with carrying out Mexican Mafia orders. Joseph Baez, 28, faces a special circumstances murder ... More >>

Alleged Orange County Alley Boys Gangster: I'm Being Railroaded!

Orange County's Alain Cruz is immensely frustrated that nobody in California's judicial system is listening to cries that he's been railroaded.Cruz was involved in the January 2005 shooting death of a con artist who operated a stolen phone service operation.But Cruz didn't shoot Melvin Liufau (AKA " ... More >>

Playing Stanton Gang Roulette as District Attorney Announces New Gang Injunction

The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) is today heralding the 11th injunction brought against an unnamed "multi-generational gang" in Stanton that is "one of the oldest in Orange County, dating back to the early 1950s."The OCDA description fits Hispanic street gang Big Stanton, but righ ... More >>

[UPDATED with Arrest:] John Perez, OC Homicide No. 40: 14 y.o. Gang Murder Victim?

See Update No. 2 on the arrest of a murder suspect.See Update No. 1 at the end of this post identifying the victim and disclosing what was found near the murder scene.ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 17, 9:46 A.M.: A 14-year-old boy was shot to death Tuesday night in a homicide the Anaheim Police Department beli ... More >>

Pedro "Peter" Lara and Michael Roger Palacios Held After Cop Shooting Near Anaheim Site Where 14 y.o. John Perez was Killed Tuesday

Anaheim Police say increased tensions between rival gangs near the site where 14-year-old John Perez was shot to death Tuesday night--the 200 block of East Vermont Avenue--led to an officer-involved shooting and the arrest of two men and a juvenile.Fortunately, no injuries were reported.Facing the m ... More >>

DA Tony Rackauckas Wrecks Hoodlum's Quick Prison Trip

Most often hoodlums locked in prison drop the pruno jar and fly off their bunk beds with joy when they hear that an appellate court has issued a reversal in their criminal case.But sadly for Orange County's Daniel Infante the news wasn't worth celebrating.Infante, a Headhunters gangster in the midst ... More >>

FBI Nabs Dangerous East Coast Gang Leader in Huntington Beach

Following a 134-count federal grand jury indictment, the FBI arrested the 35-year-old leader of a notorious South Carolina criminal gang United Blood Nation (AKA Bloods Street Gang) in Huntington Beach this week.South Carolina-native David Andrea Jenkins (AKA "Dread") and his gang members used sophi ... More >>

Little Saigon Asian Crip Who Killed At Asian Garden Mall Gets Bad News

Armed with a baseball bat and a mop handle, members of the Asian Crips criminal street gang attacked a group of men and women outside the Asian Garden Mall in Little Saigon on Thanksgiving 2001 and murdered one of the victims.The crime went unsolved for eight years until Westminster Police Departmen ... More >>

Michael Burgin, One of Two Final Defendants in Crime Ring That Hit OC Jewelers, Gets 90 Years

The final two North San Diego County gang members who were part of a crime ring that robbed Tustin Village Jewelers and Baca Jewelers of Laguna Beach in 2009 received their sentences today--and one was the largest handed out in the case: 90 years to life in state prison. Michael Burgin, 32, received ... More >>

Robert Luis Reil Gets 50 More Years to Engage in Mexican Mafia Mayhem Behind Bars

The good news for those clinging to truth, justice and the American way (brought to you by Mennen) is Robert Luis Reil was sentenced Friday to 50 years to life in state prison for his participation in the first Orange County murder of 2010. The bad news for those residing in the correctional facilit ... More >>

Sarith Yin Gets Life Without Parole for Murder of 16-year-old Juan Carlos Rodriguez

When 16-year-old Juan Carlos Rodriguez was murdered outside a Tustin house party in January 2010, police employed something of a "round-up-the-usual-suspects" strategy, hauling off eight or so young men and women for the murder. The list was later cut to six suspects. A statement from prosecutors on ... More >>

Teen Member of Eastside Buena Park Gang Gets Life in Prison Term

California's uncompromising anti-gang laws reached inside an Orange County courtroom this morning, gave a Buena Park teenager severe punishment and left the defendant's family, who firmly believe the kid's innocent, terribly distraught.Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg sentenced Jesus Art ... More >>

Police Scoop Up 26 OC Teens in Curfew Sweep

​Last night, in what's become an annual scavenger hunt of sorts, Orange County officers nabbed 26 unsuspecting minors who were out past curfew. The event is a curfew sweep, and its goal, according to the District Attorney's office, is "to prevent juveniles from being victims of or participants in ... More >>

Anthony Paul Johnson Jr., Vietnamese Gang's "White Boy" and the Week's Ugliest Police Mug

​The teardrops, chin music and especially neck art against Caucasian skin scream white motorcycle club prospect, but according to prosecutors Anthony Paul Johnson Jr. belongs to a Vietnamese street gang that knows him as "White Boy." Indeed, the Westminster 35-year-old is said to be so tight with ... More >>

Aida Arroyo, Michael Burgin and Adam Weick, Gang Members Who Hit OC Jewelers, Convicted

​Three more members of a San Diego street gang have been convicted for their roles in two Orange County jewelry store robberies, with two learning their fate from a jury today and the third having entered a guilty plea mid-trial. Aida Arroyo, 29, faces up to 15 years in state prison after pleading ... More >>

Vincent Valdez's MySpace Stupidity Cost Him 10 Years in Prison

Yums​Vincent Julian Valdez's stupidity on MySpace cost him 10 years in a California prison.In 2007, the trigger-happy Santa Ana hoodlum with the Thug Family Life (T.F.L.) gang obviously didn't get the memo concerning stealth.Valdez attempted to reduce his potential prison exposure after committing ... More >>

Prospero Guadarrama, Baby-Faced Gang Banger, Gets Life for Executing Rivals

​Baby-faced gang banger Prospero Guadarrama was sentenced today to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for murdering two rivals and leaving a third in a coma after an execution-style gang shooting eight days before Christmas 2006. Sixteen at the time of the shootings, Guadarr ... More >>

Aida Arroyo, Michael Burgin, Adam Weick: Final Defendants in Wild Gang Crime Spree

Arroyo​The beginning of the end of an Orange County crime ring came with the late August 2009 arrest of a man, who was hiding near a shed in Oceanside, for being involved in a Laguna Beach jewelry store robbery. What authorities did not know at the time was he would be tied to another robbery earl ... More >>

Ramon Diaz, a Killer at 16, Gets 50 Years in Prison for Murder of 13-Year-Old Rodrigo Valle

​A mother told a judge she doesn't understand why her 13-year-old son was taken from her.The shooting death of Rodrigo Valle near Santa Ana High School was more than another case of a gang member getting off'd by a rival gang member. It was another case of babies killing babies in Santa Ana. Ramo ... More >>

[UPDATED with Conviction:] Prospero Guadarrama: Baby-Faced, Cold-Blooded Killer

​UPDATE, NOV. 14, 5:42 P.M.: A jury today agreed Prospero Guadarrama's baby face is attached to a cold-blooded killer.Now 21, he was convicted of joining other Santa Ana street gang members as a 16-year-old in the execution-style murders of a 14- and 15-year-old while leaving a 16-year-old shot in ... More >>

Joseph Felix Diaz Was Looking at Self Defense Before Pumping 2 More Bullets into Faustino Armenta's Back

​Joseph Felix Diaz could have reasonably argued he acted in self defense when he shot rival gang member Faustino Armenta in the shoulder to fend off a beer-bottle attack. But such a defense went out the window when the 27-year-old chased Armenta for 200 feet and pumped two more bullets into the ma ... More >>

[UPDATED with Judge's Affirmation:] Armando Macias: DEATH!

Courtesy of OCDAArmando Macias​UPDATE, SEPT. 1, 1:26 P.M.: Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno today affirmed the death sentence for gang member Armando Macias, the triggerman in a bizarre family murder plot in 2002.A jury that convicted Macias in April for his role in the slaying followed up ... More >>

[UPDATED with 17 More Swept Up:] 26 Charged with Carrying Out Mexican Mafia Orders in OC Jail

​UPDATE, JULY 14, 5:01 P.M.: Besides the 26 Mexican Mafia members the District Attorney's office is prosecuting as a result of the Orange County Jail crimes uncovered through "Operation Black Flag," 17 Costa Mesa gang members were swept up by federal indictments related to the investigation.The in ... More >>

Jose Gonzalez, Gang Member Who Helped Kill Man in La Habra Street, Seeks Parole Today

​Jose Gonzalez and his fellow gang members beat Richard Holguin the night of Feb. 16. 1996. As Holguin lay on a La Habra street, the 47-year-old was repeatedly hit and kicked before being dragged to a corner where he was left to moan, unable to move. The gang members drove off but returned a few m ... More >>

[UPDATED with Continuance to 2016:] Alfonso Gudino, La Habra Gang Banger Who Shot into Random Car, Faces Parole Opposition Today

Pelican walk​UPDATE, JUNE 28, 11:14 A.M.: The possible parole of 32-year-old gang banger Alfonso Gudino from Pelican Bay State Prison has been continued until 2016.Gudin conceded before today's hearing that his parole would be denied, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office. He w ... More >>

Orange Gang-Injunction Case Headed to Federal Appellate Court

​The saga has trudged on for more than two years now, but Yvonne Elizondo still speaks about the Orange Varrio Cypress' gang injunction with freshness and fervor.A tinge of redness takes to her cheeks as she recalls the day it all started: February 23, 2009. That's the day that ... More >>

[UPDATED with Stiff Sentences:] Brothers Juan and Jorge Garcia Guilty of Gang Murder of 17-Year-Old

Juan Pablo Garcia​UPDATE, JUNE 10, 5:40 P.M.: Santa Ana brothers Juan Pablo Garcia and Jorge Armando Garcia were sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing 17-year-old Jose Granillo in 2007 for "disrespecting" their gang.  And if that's not long enough, t ... More >>

[UPDATED with Conviction:] Christopher Dai-Ichi Yu Murdered Woman Dragged Through Streets

​UPDATE, JUNE 9, 6:45 P.M.: A Fountain Valley teen has been convicted of the gruesome murder of a 48-year-old woman whose arm and purse straps became entangled with a car that dragged her for almost a mile through the streets of Westminster last year.Christopher Dai-Ichi Yu, 18, faces life without ... More >>

DA Tony Rackauckas Gets Half a Wish: Parole Denied for Uciel Murgo, OK'd for Raul Puente Robles

​Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is batting .500 this week in the state prison board's Gang-Banger Parole Homerun Derby.The paroles of gang members Raul Puente Robles and Uciel Murgo--who traded warm beds in Santa Ana for cold cell bunks at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blyth ... More >>

[UPDATED with Sentence:] Armando Macias: DEATH!

Courtesy of OCDAArmando Macias​UPDATE, MAY 19, 6:08 P.M.: A jury today recommended that gang member Armando Macias, 35, of Lancaster, receive the death penalty for his role in a bizarre family murder plot in 2002.It was Macias who "executed" 44-year-old David Montemayor, who was fleeing after bri ... More >>

Orange County Gang Injunction Suffers Major Defeat: ACLU

​A federal judge ruled today that the Orange County District Attorney and Orange Police Department violated due process rights by denying hearings to those the agencies suspected of being gang members, dealing what the American Civil Liberties Union called "a major victory" to those legally oppo ... More >>

[UPDATED with Conviction:] Armando Macias Faces Death Penalty for Bizarre Family Murder Plot

Courtesy of OCDAArmando Macias​UPDATE, APRIL 21, 5:56 P.M.: A jury in Santa Ana today found Armando Macias guilty of murder--a conviction that could bring the 35-year-old Lancaster gang banger the death penalty.Macias was part of the family murder plot of businessman David Montemayor, 44, of Buena ... More >>

Juan Pablo Garcia and Brother Jorge Armando Garcia Convicted of Gang Murder of 17-Year-Old

Juan Pablo Garcia​Juan Pablo Garcia was convicted of possession of a deadly weapon on Nov. 9, 2007, but a street terrorism count and sentencing enhancements tied to gang activities were rejected, sparing the then 26-year-old Santa Anan from more time behind bars. Despite a 1997 conviction for kidn ... More >>

[UPDATED] Armando Macias Faces Death Penalty for Bizarre Family Murder Plot

David Montemayor​UPDATE, MARCH 28, 9:34 A.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA) today goes for a third death penalty conviction and sixth and final conviction overall in the 2002 murder of a Buena Park man that was set in motion by his sister, who was jealous he was being handed ... More >>

[UPDATED WITH CHARGES] Esteban Navarrete, OC Homicide No. 4: Shot in Parking Lot Where Fight Erupted Over Whose Mexican State is Better

Courtesy of SAPDMaria Rocha​UPDATE, FEB. 23, 2:06 P.M.: The Orange County district attorney's office (OCDA) today announced charges against the third defendant in the senseless slaying of Esteban Navarrete.Maria Isabel Rocha's 17-year-old brother, who is also a suspect, is also identified by the O ... More >>

Racist OC Register Reader Fustercluck of the Day

​Headline: D.A. Arrests Cripple White Supremacist GangComment by OCFAN92648: Congratulations to all those involved in operation stormfront to identify and prosecute these racist gang members. We all should feel safer knowing that those that promote violence are off our streets. I would like to see ... More >>

He Shall Be Set Free

Phil Aguilar’s brand of outlaw Christianity made him an evangelical powerhouse—and has law enforcement calling the pastor a criminal

Long Beach Announces Injunction Targeting Gangs With Ties to Mexican Mafia

Wiki Commons​Targeting two of the largest and most violent street gangs in the area, the Long Beach Police Department and the city prosecutor's office announced a new type of injunction at a press conference today. This injunction, a civil order that prohibits documented gang members from partic ... More >>

Orange County District Attorney on Defense as ACLU Suit Against Gang Injunction is Heard

​Tony Rackauckas is at the center of a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles this afternoon against the Orange County District Attorney's enforcement of gang injunctions. The formal name of the case is American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) v. Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) Tony Rackauc ... More >>

Adrian Arroyo Gets 34 Years to Life for Shooting War Vet Caught in Gang Crossfire

​When a 25-year-old man identified only as Armando E. by prosecutors was serving with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, he was used to the sound of bullets whizzing by his ears and the feeling of being shot. At home in Garden Grove, not so much. But while he was playing in the front yard with his 10-y ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Bernal Ezequiel Felix, OC Homicide No. 1: Man Shot Driving Through Neighborhood

​UPDATE: Four gang members face charges in Orange County's first murder of the year (updates throughout) . . . While at a party Jan. 4, three gang members are alleged to have asked a fourth to set up a meeting with drug dealer Bernal Ezquivel Felix. The plan, authorities say, was the stage a fake ... More >>

Alberto Martinez Gets Death Penalty for Bizarre Family Murder Plot

​Deborah Perna, who was the office manager at her family's trucking business, was jealous that her father intended to pass control to her brother, who she was also convinced was stealing from the company. So, the 53-year-old Anaheim resident arranged to have her brother whacked. Today, a second ga ... More >>

DA Announces Second Anaheim Gang Injunction

CORRECTION: The Orange County District Attorney's Office just sent this over: "The Safety Zone is primarily located north of Katella Avenue, east of Nutwood Street, south of Ball Road, and west of Disneyland Drive." ​Ah, summer: the season of flip-flops, sundresses . . . gang injunctions.The Orang ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Tuyet Thi Huynh, OC Homicide No. 8: Dragged to Death

UPDATE: 9-1-1 emergency audio (scroll to bottom of post) . . . Courtesy of Westminster Police DepartmentChristopher Yu is one of two people accused of murdering a 38-year-old Garden Grove woman.​Tuyet Thi Huynh was standing next to a car at Russell Paris Park, talking with the young couple inside ... More >>

Orange's Barrio Cypress Residents Fought the DA's Gang Injunction—and Won (Sort Of)

Is a Popular Legal Weapon Ending a South County Gang Rivalry, or Catching Bystanders in Its Net?

Tony's Bizarro World

DA wages war on Santa Ana gang, prohibits pastel clothing