Shooting Leads ‘Angels’ to Shun Duty at Disco Events

Leaders of the Guardian Angels said Sunday that the self-styled crime fighters will think twice before appearing again at late-night disco parties like the one where two of their red-bereted members were shot during the weekend.

“Sometimes you have to let those people take care of their own,” said Sandra Hess, a coordinator for the group. “These disco groups attract a certain kind of element. From now on, any invitation to run by will be scrutinized more carefully.”

It was the third time in 15 months that members of the Guardian Angels were hit by gunfire, and the injuries suffered by James Johnson, 15, were the most severe in any of the incidents.

Confronted by Crowd

Johnson, who had just completed a year with the group, was shot in the back. Guardian Angel Eddie Lee, 21, took a bullet in the arm after they and seven other members confronted a crowd of about 60 people outside the Alpha Bowling Social Club on Western Avenue early Saturday.

Derrick Thompson, 25, said he and three other members of the group had stopped in to see if the party was orderly. He said they came under a barrage of beer bottles from loungers outside as they emerged.

Rejoining seven other Angels and retreating across the street, they fled to nearby 29th Place when members of the crowd produced pistols and shotguns, but Johnson was shot before he could escape, Thompson said. The police found him later behind some bushes.

A spokesman for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center said Johnson was kept in intensive care until Sunday, when his situation stabilized. A bullet missed his spine and pierced his intestines.

Lee was treated and released. Police said they had not identified any suspects.

Sponsored by Graduates

Witnesses said the event, sponsored by graduating seniors from Belmont and Los Angeles high schools, had gone on without incident until 1 a.m.

The unit of Guardian Angels arrived at about the same time, summoned by a phone call from a neighbor.

“Everything was cool,” said Freddie Morales, a disc jockey who presided over the evening. “Nothing was happening, but when everybody went outside, then everything started happening. Probably outside there was some bad guys.”

Angels coordinator Hess said the shooting started as the Angels were lining up in formation. “It was very arbitrary violence,” she said. “These guys were very liquored up and it went boom-boom-boom.”

The Angels, founded in New York in 1979, have been operating in Los Angeles since 1981.

Sgt. Ron Brown of the Southwest Division of the Los Angeles Police Department said the group was well-intentioned but its members appeared not to have realized that their presence would not be appreciated.

A Source of Danger

“It’s a real invitation for harassment, especially from older adults who can see that they’re unarmed,” he said. “How far does a heckler go? In most cases these guys are under the influence . . . the reaction is going to be, ‘what are these kids doing here?’ ”

Although the minimum age for joining the group’s street patrols is supposed to be 16, Hess said Johnson was taken along because of his maturity.

“It’s unfortunate that it was James, but it would have been just as unfortunate for an older member,” she said. “James has been exemplary. He just got his one-year pin that day. Some people at age 15 can act like an adult, and James was that exception. You grow up fast out there.”

Although a municipal curfew bars youths under 18 from being out after 10 p.m., the presence of someone 21 years old or older is considered to be adequate supervision, Brown said.

Thompson, 25, said the Angels will continue their activities in troubled areas, but as for disco parties, “we’re not going to do that kind of patrols any more. With the kind of money they’re making, they should have enough security of their own.”

Renewed Popularity

Disco is a form of popular music intended for elaborate dance steps reminiscent of the Big Band Music of the 1930s and ‘40s.

Although the music reached a height of popularity in the 1970s, disc jockey Morales said disco is enjoying a comeback among young people, especially at events like Friday night’s dance at the Alpha Bowling Social Club.

Charging $5 a head, promoters can net more than $1,000 a night for a minimal outlay for the hall and disc jockey.

“I won’t rent to them no more,” said Willie Thomas, manager of the club, which has been in operation since 1931 at the building half a mile south of the Santa Monica Freeway. A birthday party had been scheduled for Saturday night, but Thompson said he canceled it for fear of more trouble.