Shaken Simi Residents Ask City to Head Off Gang Violence

Frightened by a suspected gang shooting in their neighborhood last week, residents of a Simi Valley cul-de-sac urged the City Council on Monday to crack down on gang activity before someone is killed.

While two dozen residents appeared at the meeting to plead for tighter police patrols, two incidents of gang activity Monday night left two people injured and nine people in police custody.

“We kind of feel helpless,” said Jeff Irwin, who joined a newly formed Neighborhood Watch for the area.

“I live directly across the street from gang members,” said his wife, Joelle Irwin, on the verge of tears. “They’re like a cancer and they’re spreading. I fear for my family. I fear for my neighbors. I can’t imagine what’s going to happen if you don’t help us.”

Neighbor Jeffrey Higgins complained that his young son brought home two live bullets that he had found near Santa Susana Elementary School, which is just down the block on Apricot Road.

Police have beefed up patrols along Apricot Road since a drive-by shotgun shooting Oct. 21. No one was injured when shots shattered the windows of an occupied home in the 4100 block of Apricot in an incident that police said may or may not be related to the beating of a 14-year-old gang member in the neighborhood the previous night.

“The gang problem cannot be solved by the Police Department alone,” said Chief Randy Adams. But he said the Neighborhood Watch is “really encouraging,” and that together with neighbors police can make progress against gangs.

Adams said he is working with his department’s Special Enforcement Section to come up with a plan for quelling the recent outbreak of gang warfare.

“We will do whatever we can do to increase patrols in the community and especially in that particular area,” Adams said.

But while the council meeting was going on, Simi Valley police officers had to deal with two distinct but connected gang incidents.

At 8:40 p.m., Sergio Munoz, 19, of Simi Valley, who admits a gang affiliation, was struck by a vehicle in the 900 block of Ashland Avenue, said Simi Valley Police Sgt. Gary Collins. Police had no suspects in the attack, which is thought to be gang-related, he said.

Soon after, police received numerous calls about a group of about 20 men who were smashing the windows of a house in the 300 block of Donita Street and the glass of several vehicles parked outside the home. Collins said a member of the group is believed to have entered the house and attacked a female resident with a stick or bat, injuring the victim’s legs.

Police arrested nine people in the Donita Street incident, one of whom had cuts police believe were obtained while breaking glass. Collins said police believe the attackers were friends of Munoz.

The same two gangs that were involved in the incident on Apricot Road were thought to be involved in Monday night’s events.