Arrest May Aid Police in Probe of Gang War

The arrest of a 22-year-old San Fernando man may have given police a break in their efforts to stop warfare between two gangs in the eastern part of the San Fernando Valley, according to a prosecutor investigating gang activity there.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Andy Diamond said Monday he believes the arrest Sunday of Albert Medina may help police trace the many guns being used by gang members in the area. Diamond is the main representative in the Valley for the Hard Core Gang Division of the district attorney’s office.

“There is currently a gang war going on between a gang in San Fernando and another in the Pacoima area, a back-and-forth thing, with strike and counter-strike,” said Diamond, who is based in an office in Van Nuys. “And, obviously, guns are the coin in the transaction.”

‘Much Better Idea’

Diamond said the arrest of Medina is expected to give investigators “a much better idea where the guns are going--it’s a kind of a break in the investigation. . . .”

Medina was arrested at 3:36 a.m. Sunday as he emerged from an air-conditioning duct he had allegedly used to enter the San Fernando Sporting Goods store at 1100 San Fernando Road. He is expected to be arraigned today in San Fernando Municipal Court.

Diamond and police officers said they believe that about 80 handguns stolen from the store on three other occasions in the past three months have been used in a conflict between two gangs in the eastern Valley. Police said it is against policy to name gangs because doing so might encourage them to commit more crime for the sake of publicity.

He said the exact reasons for the gang hostilities are unknown.

Similar Pattern

San Fernando police said that, in all four cases, the sporting goods store was broken into through a rooftop duct. When police entered the store after arresting Medina they found about 30 rifles and shotguns removed from store racks and lined up against a wall, according to San Fernando police Sgt. Michael Harvey.

Diamond described Medina as “a strong, deeply entrenched, hard-core gang member.”

“We can look to his family, his clique, his gang, his neighborhood--we can go right back up the tree from the roots,” he said.

Diamond said he believes police may be able to trace some of the guns already stolen and stop the thefts from San Fernando Sporting Goods that police believe have provided gang members with many weapons.

San Fernando Police Chief Charles Sherwood said Monday that police think it was “very fortunate that we were able to make this arrest at this time, because we felt there was some gang involvement with the guns, but we weren’t sure.”

San Fernando Municipal Judge Michael S. Luros set bail for Medina at $75,000 after hearing a request from San Fernando police that he depart from felony bail guidelines stipulating bail of about $2,500 for the one count of burglary for which Medina was arrested. The deviation was requested in light of the other, similar burglaries, Medina’s alleged gang affiliation and other factors.

“It was sufficiently warranted by the fact that there had been the three prior burglaries and because of my concern about gang activity and guns,” Luros said Monday in an interview.

10 Gang Arrests

Diamond said he plans to ask Luros to increase the bail to $100,000 should Medina--who apparently had no attorney as of Monday--petition the the court to lower bail. “Even if it’s lowered, I don’t want him to be able to get out,” Diamond said.

Diamond said that, in the past year, police have made 10 arrests in connection with a wave of gang conflict in the San Fernando area. Among the incidents, Diamond said, are the kidnaping and shooting of Ruben Cruz, an 18-year-old Pacoima resident who police say gang members mistook for a member of a rival group. Cruz disappeared from a Pacoima street corner about 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 1. His partly decomposed body was found Nov. 28 in a canyon adjacent to Interstate 5 near Newhall.

Diamond said he believes that the Nov. 17 shooting of 16-year-old Leo Diaz was also one of the many incidents stemming from the dispute. He also described several incidents in recent months in which gang members have fired guns into each other’s houses.