Casa Blanca Riva

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Some pics of one clique in Casa Blanca (I.E. Riders, Casa Blanca St.)

[MiChuhSuh]

These dudes shot down choppers and stuff, right? That's some crazy stuff, they did something besically no LA hang did.

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These dudes shot down choppers and stuff, right? That's some crazy stuff, they did something besically no LA hang did.

Yea,,that was new years eve of 94 to 95...Ak-47..Shot the pilot through the foot. But CB has several factions divided by Madison St. off the 91 Fwy,,right now they're shooting and killing each other..that's been happening over the past few decades..Evans St. Devil Wolves vs. Fern St. Vagabundos..These guys here (in the pic) are youngsters on the Vagabundo side claiming I.E. Riders,,Casa Blanca St. (a street named after the Casa Blanca community just south of Indiana St.)...Long history in CB,,longer than alot of L.A. gangs...

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You notice in the middle pic they cross out the "LA" in "Blanca"..

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Shots fired at police copter
January 1, 1995
By The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

Gun shots struck a Riverside Police Department helicopter last night, hitting the pilot in the foot, rupturing the craft's fuel tank and forcing it to make an emergency landing.

Pilot John Fehrs sustained a gunshot wound to his right foot and was taken to Riverside Community Hospital. His condition was unavailable but his injuries were not life threatening, Capt. Gary Barnes said.

He said the incident occurred about 10:45 p.m. The copter was flying about 800 feet above the Casa Blanca area with its lights off, checking reports of gunfire.

The firing of weapons, apparently marking the new year, was audible on and off for at least half an hour after the shooting. Police closed off the area and set up roadblocks on nearby streets.

A police dispatcher said officers reported seeing several people with guns, hearing shots and seeing muzzle flashes. Some said their cars had been fired upon.

The Press-Enterprise

Struck helicopter, Gun shots struck this Riverside Police Department helicopter last night, hitting the pilot in the foot, rupturing the craft's fuel tank and forcing it to land at Lincoln and Adams. (photo ran A8)

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Eyebrows are raised over police decision in Casa Blanca case
Two members of the City Council are wondering about the police decision not to storm a house after shots were fired at a police helicopter.
January 4, 1995
By Phil Pitchford The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

Two City Council members want to know if past disputes between police and the Casa Blanca neighborhood affected the decision Saturday night not to storm a house believed to be the location someone used to open fire at one of their helicopters.

Alex Clifford said yesterday that he had "some discomfort" with that decision and wondered aloud if it would have been the same had the incident occurred elsewhere in the city. Joy Defenbaugh also said residents had called her with the same concern.

"I think that's BS," Police Chief Ken Fortier said late yesterday. "If they have a police mission, they are going to deal with it, regardless of what part of town they are in. We don't have any parts of town that are sanctuaries."

Fortier said a SWAT team was assembled that evening but not sent into the house because of darkness and the large number of guns that appeared to be present. He also said officers were not absolutely sure where the gunfire had come from.

"That is their call," Fortier said. "As long as it is within the proper parameters - and this one was - I am not going to second-guess them."

Fortier expects to have more answers after the officers in charge finish critiquing their actions. The officers will write a report, although Fortier said he will not make the results public because doing so could endanger officers' safety in the future.

"We will learn what we can . . . but I am not going to Monday morning quarterback," he said.

Clifford and Defenbaugh also said they did not want to second-guess the officers in charge that night. Clifford said in an interview that, while he is not an expert on police tactics, the presence of guns was a reason to go in the house, not stay out of it.

"We should be all over that house, to clean house," Clifford said. He said he was anxious to hear more about why the SWAT officers were not sent in.

Casa Blanca "irrespective of its previous conflicts with the Police Department, deserves no special treatment," Clifford said. " . . . I want to understand if the pendulum has swung too far, if they are snakebit."

Fortier said that was not the case.

"They had a lot of gunfire and drunks with high powered rifles," he said. "That was the case."

Fortier said it was presumptuous of him to offer a $5,000 reward on Monday for information leading to the conviction of the shooter because only the council can authorize such a payment. But he said the department has the money available and will not be required to pay it for several months.

"I just went ahead and did it," Fortier told the council yesterday. "The actual decision to pay is yours."

The council did not act on whether to allocate money for such a reward. Councilwoman Maureen Kane, who represents Casa Blanca, did not comment on the situation during the meeting.

Abraham Gutierrez, president of the Casa Blanca Community Action Group, said later yesterday that he doubted police treated the situation any differently than they would have elsewhere.

"In my opinion, I don't think they knew, at least with any certainty, where the shots were coming from," he said. "I don't think they knew initially who was responsible."

Police consider the New Year's Eve incident a deliberate attack, not an inadvertent result of holiday shooting. They have said that anyone arrested in connection with the shooting will be charged with attempted murder.

Gutierrez said he hopes the shooting will not affect the vastly improved relations between the neighborhood and police, which he said are probably the best they have ever been.

"But there's always going to be people who are going to cause trouble," he said. "I think we can work this out."

A few Casa Blanca residents went to the council meeting later in the day to voice their concerns over the incident. One, Morris Mendoza, said he does not think the person who fired the shots is from the neighborhood.

"We as a community condemn the action and are outraged at the people who perpetrated this violence against our police department," Mendoza said. "We hope these individuals are captured and put away for a long time."

Officials from the state Department of Justice are being asked to examine the site to determine exactly where the shots came from, Fortier said.

Contrary to previous reports, trainee Russ Shubert was flying the craft when it was hit and landed the helicopter a few minutes later at Adams and Lincoln streets, Fortier said. John Fehrs, who normally pilots the craft, was shot in the foot when three high-caliber bullets struck the helicopter.

A fuel tank was hit but it did not lose more fuel because it is lined with a self-sealing rubber bladder, Fortier said.

Councilwoman Terri Thompson said the department's three helicopters should be armored, regardless of the cost. Fortier said the department has rejected that idea because the weight reduces the amount of people and materials that can be carried in a helicopter.

"We're clearly going to look at that again," Fortier said.

Many Casa Blanca residents continue to help police investigate the case, Fortier said. Some distributed leaflets to encourage anyone who has information about the shooting to contact police.

"People are very cooperative, other than the house where the shooting took place," Fortier said. "They are incensed . . . and determined to do anything they can to help us. There is an element of fear, though."

About 10:45 p.m. Saturday, Shubert and Fehrs were flying about 800 feet over Fern Avenue and Cary Street, near where police were investigating a report that a woman had been struck in the head by a bullet that apparently had been fired in the air and fallen.

Shubert and Fehrs were checking the back yard of a house before police arrived there. The officers were going to break up a party, believing it was the source of the shooting that wounded the woman.

After the helicopter circled the house for five to 10 minutes, the officers turned on the searchlight, shining it on the back yard where 30 to 40 people were gathered. Shots were fired when the light was turned off. A bullet shattered bones in Fehrs' foot, but he is expected to recover without surgery.

Police are encouraging anyone with information about the shooting to call Detective Ron Sanfillippo, (909) 782-5225.

Staff writer David Ogul contributed to this report.




Zone: RIVERSIDE; DESERT & PASS; HEMET-SAN JACINTO; SOUTHWEST; MORENO VALLEY



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

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Reward offered for copter shooter
If an arrest is made, the suspect faces attempted murder charges, a police official said.
January 3, 1995
By Ila Adke The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

Riverside police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person who fired a high-caliber rifle at a police helicopter on New Year's Eve, hurting the pilot and forcing a landing in a city intersection.

Despite fear of retribution, residents of the neighborhood where the shooting occurred are passing out leaflets and encouraging neighbors to help police find the shooters.

Police Chief Ken Fortier said he considered the shooting a deliberate attempt to kill the officers.

"They were clearly aiming at the helicopter," Fortier said.

Anyone arrested in connection with the shooting would be charged with attempted murder, police Sgt. Bob Hanson said.

"We're going to charge it as high as we can find it appropriate," Hanson said.

Pilot John Fehrs was shot in the foot when at least three high-caliber bullets struck the helicopter as it patrolled the Casa Blanca neighborhood Saturday night. His copilot, Russ Shubert, landed the helicopter a few minutes later at Adams and Lincoln streets.

At about 10:45 p.m. Saturday, Fehrs and Shubert were flying in a McDonnell Douglas 500D helicopter about 800 feet over Fern Avenue and Cary Street, near where police were investigating a report that a woman had been struck in the head by a spent bullet casing. The two officers in the helicopter were checking the back yard of a house before police arrived there. The officers were going to break up a party, believing it was the source of the shooting that wounded the woman.

After the helicopter circled the house for five to 10 minutes, the officers turned on the searchlight, shining it on the back yard where 30 to 40 people were gathered. Shots were fired when the light was switched off.

Fehrs was struck in the foot. The bullet shattered bones in his foot, but he probably will recover without surgery, Fortier said.

On Sunday morning, officers searched the same home the helicopter had flooded with a searchlight, Fortier said. The officers found two casings from a high-caliber bullet and another casing from a different high-caliber bullet, he said.

Police were lucky to find that evidence, Fortier said.

The back yard of the home had been raked to clean it up, and investigators were told that relatives of the home's residents had removed weapons from the house before police searched it, Fortier said.

A young man was questioned by the investigators for several hours Sunday afternoon and released for lack of evidence, he said.

Fortier said he has met twice with neighborhood residents since the shooting. Most were shocked by the incident, and a few are afraid to help police, he said.

"The history of the area has been that there's a lot of fear, mostly of retribution," Fortier said. "That's why I'm personally going there to talk to the residents."

Casa Blanca residents generally have been willing to help police, Fortier said. Several neighborhood residents distributed leaflets to encourage anyone who has information about the shooting to contact police.

The shooting has left the police without their usual helicopter support. The helicopter involved in Saturday's shooting will have to sit in the hangar until investigators can examine it for evidence and repair it. The second patrol helicopter will be out of service for a few days for routine maintenance, Fortier said.

The third helicopter normally is used for surveillance, but it could be used for patrol if needed, Fortier said.

He said he has heard of a ceramic coating that makes helicopters less vulnerable to gunfire and intends to learn more about it.

Anyone with information about the shooting should call Riverside police Detective Ron Sanfillippo, (909) 782-5225.


Art: PHOTOS

Caption: Jay Racz

The Press-Enterprise

1.Riverside Police Chief Ken Fortier talks with members of the news media yesterday at the police helicopter hangar in front of the Bell 500 copter that was hit by bullets Saturday night.

2.Hole shows where bullet punctured the fuselage of a Riverside police helicopter, which was forced to land. John Fehrs Pilot was hit in the foot

Zone: RIVERSIDE; ALL ZONES



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

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Pilot trainee praised for quick thinking
Police believe shooting at copter was not random
January 2, 1995
By Jacquie Paul and Mariel Garza The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

Riverside Police Department pilot trainee Russ Shubert and pilot John Fehrs felt a jolt as their helicopter hovered above a Casa Blanca crime scene Saturday night.

Then, Fehrs was struck by gunfire that pierced the cockpit floor. Seeing his trainer in severe pain, Shubert had to make a split-second decision - to fly to the nearest hospital, or to land closer in case something was wrong with his aircraft.

He chose the latter, and was praised by his superiors yesterday for making a good decision under pressure.

Putting kudos aside, Shubert was angry yesterday about the shooting, which police believe was not random.

"Whoever fired, they obviously fired at us," Shubert said. "If they hit the tail rotor, then we very well could have gone down into C.B. (Casa Blanca) and taken out a bunch of homes," he said.

Riverside Police Chief Ken Fortier called the shooting "a cowardly act."

The helicopter was hit three times with blasts from two high-powered weapons, police said.

Officers searched the neighborhood door-to-door early yesterday and detained one man, who they later released. No arrests have been made, but police believe they know which house the gunfire came from.

The shooting alarmed Casa Blanca community leaders, who met with the police chief yesterday afternoon to talk about the shooting.

"People expressed the outrage of what happened," said Patsy Navarro, a neighborhood activist. "No one found it funny."

At 10:45 p.m. Fehrs and Shubert were flying in a Bell 500 police helicopter about 800 feet above Fern Avenue and Cary Street near where police were investigating a shooting. They were flying with their lights off to avoid being a target by New Year's Eve gunfire.

Shortly before the helicopter was hit, police were called to the neighborhood after a woman was hit in the head by a spent bullet casing. She was not seriously injured, Fortier said.

Shubert said he and Fehrs were checking the scene so field officers would know what they were dealing with before going in to break up a party where the shots may have come from.

"That is our main function is to make sure that these guys on the ground don't get potshots," Shuber said.

After circling the area for five to 10 minutes, Shubert said they turned on their searchlight, shining it on a back yard where 30 to 40 people were gathered. Shots rang out when the light was switched off.

"As soon as John turned off all the lights, there was a loud bang directly behind us," Shubert said. "We felt a slight jolt. We initially thought it was flight controls."

Then two more shots came, Shubert said.

One bullet went through the front of the helicopter, another through the bottom and through the pilot's foot, and a third into the fuel tank.

"The first thing I thought of was just to get away from the area," Shubert said. "My first thought was him. When we got five to 10 seconds out of Casa Blanca, I started thinking, `Maybe something's wrong with the helicopter.'

"I figured, just put the helicopter down. Just put it down and we'll get assistance from there."

Shubert safely landed the craft in the intersection near the Lincoln Street police station. He knew that intersection to be well-lit, wide, and not heavily traveled at night.

Sgt. Mark McFall, who is in charge of the 10-member helicopter unit, said Shubert's actions displayed "exemplary performance under the worst conditions by a trainee pilot with limited experience."

Shubert is a licensed commercial helicopter pilot. He has been with the department six years.

Fortier said the incident easily could have caused a disaster since the helicopter had just refueled.

Random gunfire is an annual event in Casa Blanca as a way to ring in the new year. Police reported that gunfire could be heard in the area on and off for about 30 minutes after the shooting.

Many residents are not happy with that New Year's Eve tradition, said Richard Roa, a longtime Casa Blanca resident.

"Just imagine what would have happened if the helicopter exploded," Roa said. "It could have been a big catastrophe here in Casa Blanca. I don't think the youths doing this think about it that way."

Navarro and Roa said the group of community leaders who met with Fortier yesterday will meet with residents living near where the shooting happened.

"We need to stop all this," Roa said. "It's not safe for anyone. We need to stop the shooting."

Early yesterday police searched the house where they suspect the gunfire came from. It is a different location than where the woman was hit by the spent bullet. In the back yard investigators found the remains of a small fire, an empty cartridge box an spent bullet casings, Fortier said.

McFall said a similar incident in Casa Blanca occurred at least 10 years ago. The helicopter was hit in the gas tank. The pilot made a safe, emergency landing.

Fehrs, recuperating in Riverside Community Hospital yesterday, is expected to fully recover.

He said he and his co-pilot didn't know the helicopter was being shot at until the fuselage was hit. Nor did they know the craft was losing fuel until they reached the ground.

About the emergency landing, Fehrs only would say: "It was probably everything you can imagine."

Fehrs' injury marks the first time that a Riverside police helicopter officer has been shot while in his craft, McFall said. Fehrs has been with the department for 20 years.

Riverside's helicopter pilots, like other departments, ground their crafts on New Year's Eve to avoid becoming targets for gunfire. Shubert said that he and Fehrs had been assisting in a Riverside County Sheriff's Department call and were planning to land about 11:30 p.m. Saturday night. This year, Perris Police Chief Gil Olivarria ended helicopter patrols over Perris about 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Sheriff's Department spokesman Mark Lohman said his department's policy is to ground helicopters at midnight on New's Year's Eve and for about an hour after that.

Staff writer Tim O'Leary contributed to this report.


Art: PHOTO;MUG SHOTS;MAP

Caption: William Wilson Lewis III

The Press-Enterprise

A Western Helicopter employee, Running Deer Latahotchee, drains the remaining fuel from the Riverside police ``Air-1,'' after it made an emergency landing, having been fired on late Saturday night. Ken Fortier Riverside police chief Russ Shubert, Made emergency landing

Zone: RIVERSIDE; ALL ZONES



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

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Casa Blanca's complaint to chief: Avoid harassment
Residents and the police chief share their mutual concerns and their differences about the search for the person who shot a police helicopter.
January 7, 1995
By Phil Pitchford The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

About 25 Casa Blanca residents told Police Chief Ken Fortier last night that they support efforts to find the person who shot a police helicopter there New Year's Eve, but they do not want law-abiding people harassed in the process.

Fortier pledged to "deal with the problem people we have and problem behavior" within the department. But, he told residents, aggressive police work should not be mistaken for harassment.

"I'll be the last one to tell you we are perfect and that everything our officers do is right," Fortier said. "If we're wrong, we will say we were wrong. (But) if we were right, we will say that too."

The meeting aired concerns face-to-face that have simmered all week. Both the residents and Fortier said they were meeting to fortify the respect they have developed for each other.

An above-average number of officers have been searching the area for leads in the shooting, which shattered an officer's foot and forced the pilot to land the craft in an intersection. Police believe the shooting to be a deliberate attack and have pledged to charge whoever is responsible with attempted murder.

A neighborhood activist, David Avila, said he and his son were harassed Wednesday evening in separate incidents. Avila, 38, said an officer pointed a gun at him, questioned him and warned him to pass the word that more people could expect such treatment until police arrest the person who shot the helicopter.

Everyone at the meeting said they hoped police caught the culprit. But several said they had been treated unfairly or knew of other such instances.

One, Hope DeHaro, said she used to worry about her sons being approached by gangs. She said she is now concerned about them being treated unfairly by police just because they are young and live in the area.

One of her sons, for example, was pulled over this week and told he would not be issued a ticket if he provided information about the shooting, she said. She said she does not allow her sons to have friends over or listen to music because she fears attracting undeserved attention from authorities.

"Now I'm keeping them home because of what the police are going to do to them?" she asked. "Is this going to stop?"

Fortier said DeHaro's sons should not be afraid to go out. He also pledged to look into a complaint that officers used a spotlight on a woman driving her car, then laughed when she became disoriented.

"I've always respected the police," said RoseLinda Moreira, a secretary at the Home of Neighborly Service who said the incident upset her.

Fortier said part of the problem is that the additional officers devoted to catching whoever shot the helicopter do not know the community as well as those who regularly patrol there. He added, however, that officers must be able to aggressively investigate, using field interrogations or lights.

"Unfortunately criminals don't walk around with signs on their heads" identifying them as such, Fortier said. "And our officers, we are finding out, don't know enough people here."

Abraham Gutierrez, chairman of the Casa Blanca Community Action Group, said he did not think residents were afraid of possible retribution.

"They just don't have any information to give," he said.




Zone: RIVERSIDE; DESERT & PASS; TEMECULA-MURRIETA; SOUTHWEST



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

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Activist: Police going overboard
Says he, son were harassed after copter shooting
January 6, 1995
By Phil Pitchford The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

More police officers than usual are scouring Casa Blanca this week to look for whoever shot one of their helicopters on New Year's Eve, but a neighborhood man and his son say they were wrongly harassed as a result.

Arrests for numerous drug and weapons offenses are part of an aggressive response to the attack, police said. Three shots struck the craft Saturday night, shattering an officer's foot, endangering the lives of neighborhood residents and forcing the helicopter to an emergency landing.

Tuesday night officers arrested seven people for drug possession, possession of a concealed knife and other offenses, Deputy Chief Mike Blakely said. They also cited two people for driving with a suspended license and driving with alcohol in a vehicle.

Neighborhood activist David Avila said he is all for that. But Avila said he and his son were harassed Wednesday evening in separate incidents, and he objects to that.

Avila, 38, said he was pulled over by police at about 6:30 p.m. in front of his Freda Avenue home after allegedly failing to signal before making a left turn. He said he had just cracked the van door open when an officer ordered him to stay in the van with his hands visible at all times.

Avila said the officer, dressed in fatigues with his hat turned backward, drew his gun before approaching the van, questioned him and then warned him to pass the word that more people could expect such treatment until police arrest whoever shot at the helicopter. Another officer kept a flashlight shining in his eyes from the other side of the van, Avila said.

"I was treated like a criminal, but I have never been arrested and never been in any trouble," Avila said. "They're trying to scare people." He said he believed police were angry that nobody has come forward with information.

Avila said he told the officers that he was not involved with the shooting and knew nothing about it. The officer, whose name Avila did not get, checked Avila's driver's license, and then drove away, he said.

Whoever shot the helicopter should be arrested, Avila said. "But don't treat the people in the community like criminals, as if they were all involved," he said. "That's uncalled for."

Avila is interim president of the Riverside chapter of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA). After the police left, he called Gil Navarro, a Riverside resident who is interim MAPA president for Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties. He also called Abraham Gutierrez, chairman of the Casa Blanca Community Action Group.

Navarro said using one person to relay threats to the rest of the neighborhood reeked of "Gestapo tactics."

"Those officers need to be apprehended and reprimanded," Navarro said.

Blakely said yesterday afternoon that he had not been able to reach Avila. He said that although he could not speak to the specific allegations, police tactics, including the use of a weapon, may be justified even when they do not appear so to non-officers.

"We're going to look into it," Blakely said. "Until we hear it first-hand, we don't really know how to respond."

Gutierrez said he wanted to talk with police before commenting on the incident.

"There's always two sides to the story," he said. "If in fact the accusations are true, I don't think it was right. I know they are upset and all (about the helicopter shooting), but that does not make it right."

Avila said he was concerned that such behavior could endanger recently improved relations between the police and Casa Blanca residents. He said a Riverside police sergeant came to his house last night to take a report on Wednesday's incident. Gabriel Avila said the sergeant also took a report from him.

Gabriel Avila said he was questioned by police about two hours after his father Wednesday as he walked home from his grandmother's apartment.

Gabriel said two officers who had parked their car outside the apartment complex ordered him to put his hands on the hood of their car. He said they then questioned him about the case and were angered when he suggested that police should have known better than to fly a helicopter over Casa Blanca on New Year's Eve, when holiday-related gunfire is common.

Blakely said the department is trying to send the message that shooting at police will not be tolerated. He said some Casa Blanca residents have used the shooting as a "foolhardy way" to threaten officers by saying that is what police get for flying their helicopter over Casa Blanca.

"Quite frankly, we are not going to tolerate that," Blakely said. "There are pockets of individuals who reside in or frequent Casa Blanca . . . who are troublemakers. They should be forewarned that we are going to seek them out."

Blakely said he did not know if either Avila or his son fall into that category or not. He also rejected Navarro's claim of Gestapo tactics and said Casa Blanca residents overwhelmingly support the police.

"We believe it is probable that other people are aware of who is responsible for this," Blakely said, referring to the helicopter shooting. "We are actively working the community . . . to assist us in identifying those individuals."

Blakely declined to say how many officers have been assigned to the helicopter shooting. He also declined to comment on Avila's statement that officers were wearing combat fatigues.

Blakely said police have not determined if more than one person is responsible for firing the three bullets that hit the helicopter.

City Councilwoman Maureen Kane said she had not heard about the Avila incident.

"I can't say whether it happened or not, but it doesn't fit into the way things have been handled," she said.


Art: PHOTO

Caption: Jimmy Dorantes

The Press-Enterprise

Police looking for leads in the police helicopter shooting harassed him Wednesday, says David Avila, above, an official with the Mexican American Political Association.

Zone: RIVERSIDE; SOUTHWEST; DESERT & PASS



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

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Police actions protested - and praised
Some Casa Blanca residents criticize the handling of an investigation of a shooting of a helicopter. At a City Council meeting, other residents offer their help.
January 11, 1995
By David Ogul and Phil Pitchford The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

While more than a dozen Casa Blanca residents protested yesterday against police tactics after last week's police helicopter shooting, other residents of the Hispanic community said investigating officers acted appropriately.

There were strong words on both sides.

"These are just plain, old fashioned Gestapo tactics," said Raul Wilson, an organizer for the Mexican Political Association, which organized yesterday's protests. "You don't stop people for no reason, put a gun to their head and demand information." There were pickets at police headquarters and at City Hall.

But at yesterday morning's City Council meeting, four members of the Casa Blanca Community Action Group showed up to support police for the way they handled the New Year's Eve shooting that left one officer with a shattered foot and forced a pilot to land the craft in a nearby intersection. They also offered any help they could.

"If there's something you want to know, just call us," said Richard Roa.

Residents who claim officers are overzealous have already met with police administrators on at least two occasions, but those involved in yesterday's protests say they have gotten nowhere.

"It hasn't been taken care of," said Cynthia Gutierrez, a Casa Blanca resident who is also chairwoman of the Riverside chapter of the Mexican Political Association. "They are indiscriminately stopping and questioning people to try to get information about the shooting."

Morris Mendoza, however, asking the council to study ways to prevent New Year's Eve gunfire in the future, praised Police Chief Ken Fortier for his leadership and the pilot who was able to land the helicopter without endangering the lives of Casa Blanca residents.

"The problems are with the shooters," Mendoza said.

Deputy Police Chief Mike Blakely said he could not respond to specific complaints, but said all allegations would be investigated thoroughly. He reminded the crowd that the New Year's Eve incident had the potential to kill two police officers and neighborhood residents.

"This department has responded appropriately to that crime," Blakely said. "We will not be intimidated, nor will the residents of Casa Blanca."

Officer Ken Raya, a patrol officer in Casa Blanca who was not at the council meeting or the picketing of police headquarters, said that he has not stopped anyone who is not violating the law.

Raya added, however, that he and others are stopping and arresting people for curfew violations and what some may consider minor drug offenses.

At one point in the council meeting, Councilwoman Terri Thompson angered some people in the audience when she tried to make a point about improved relationships between the neighborhood and city government.

She said when she moved to Riverside in the 1960s, she asked about Casa Blanca and was told the area "should be fenced off and let them destroy themselves."

"I think we have come a long way from that," Thompson said.

MPA members got up and left during the remainder of Thompson's comments. Once outside, they began shouting "Terri Thompson must go." After Thompson finished speaking, Roa said he was "very hurt" by what Thompson said.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Ken Fortier described the police crackdown in these terms:

"It is an aggressive police operation to try to learn as much as we can about this incident while at the same time trying to enforce the law in the community."

He added that most of the arrests that have been made were for various felonies.

Fortier also supported the practice of police stopping pedestrians and motorists to try to get information about the shooting.

"It's a legitimate police tactic to conduct field interviews while you're investigating a serious crime," he said. His only restriction is that those stopped be treated with respect and courtesy.

"Have we been perfect in all cases?" he said. "Probably not. But where we get complaints, we're looking into them and dealing with the problem."

Detective Ron Sanfilippo, the lead investigator in the shooting case, said no arrests are imminent and no suspects have been identified in connection with the incident.

"No one's coming forward with any information," he said. "People are afraid."

Gutierrez said people aren't afraid, "they don't have any information."


Art: PHOTO

Caption: David Bauman

The Press-Enterprise

Mexican Political Association members held a protest in front of the Riverside Police Department yesterday morning. They were upset with what they called ``Gestapo police tactics aimed at intimidating innocent victims'' in Casa Blanca.

Zone: RIVERSIDE; ALL ZONES



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

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Marchers ask peace for sake of family
About 50 march through the streets of Casa Blanca, white flags fluttering.
March 26, 1995
By Ricardo Duran The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

They marched through the streets of Casa Blanca yesterday in memory of the dead and for the sake of the living.

About 50 people, most of them mothers, wives or sisters of young people killed on the often-tough streets of the mostly Hispanic community in Riverside, took to the streets with signs and white flags calling for peace - for the sake of family.

They also remembered the dead, such as 21-year-old Christopher Manzanares, shot and killed six years ago at the corner of Emerald and Madison streets.

Julia Jaramillo participated for the sake of her 27-year-old daughter, Regina Jaramillo, shot in the torso about two weeks ago at a nearby apartment complex. Regina Jaramillo remained at Riverside General Hospital yesterday recovering from her injuries.

For one of the organizers of the march, Martha Hernandez, the demonstration was in memory of her son, Daniel, who was beaten to death in 1990, and her nephew, Salvador Gonzales, who was shot and killed in 1981.

She said recent violence in Casa Blanca spurred her and others into action.

"I was tired of seeing all these deaths," Hernandez said.

"Acompananos en la lucha!" (Join us in the struggle) she shouted as the group left the Ishmael Villegas Community Center and headed wast on Evans Street.

Under a brilliant blue sky, the crowd marched as a cool breeze whipped white flags carried as symbols of peace. The entourage drew neighbors such as Cornelio Velasquez, who watched them go by.

Some like Patsy Rivera cheered the marchers on, taking advantage of the demonstration to take a break from her yard work.

"Hey, I think it's great," she said from her front yard on Evans Street. "Too bad we don't have more of these marches and less of the shooting."

Rivera said she raised three sons and a daughter in Casa Blanca who are in their 20s now.

"We've got children growing up here. Many of them are on the sidelines and they're getting hit in the process," Rivera said.

As the group turned south on Grace Street, some other people joined in the march and Hernandez's 4-year-old grandson, Mikey, joined in the shouting, repeating in a barely audible voice, the shouts of his grandmother.

"Stop the killing," they shouted. "Ya paren con la violencia," (Stop the violence now) and "No more drive-by shootings!"

"The people are fed up with violence, drugs, shootings and gangs," said Al Kovar, the director of the Casa Blanca Home of Neighborly service, which runs many youth and community programs. "They've all lost greatly and they don't want to see anyone else lose, too."

Kovar and Hernandez worked together to put the march on through the auspices of the Casa Blanca Community Youth Services.

Yesterday's march was the first of several the group, Mothers and Wives Against Gang Violence, plans to hold in Casa Blanca. The group is scheduled to meet regularly at the Villegas Park community center.

Yesterday, marchers took a break as they approached a Ford minivan parked near the corner of Grace Street and Lincoln Avenue at 12:20 p.m. There, Arthur and Eleanor Manzanares distributed soft drinks to the marchers.

"We lost our son about six years ago," Eleanor Manzanares said of the shooting death of Christopher Manzanares. "There's nothing more devastating than to lose a child."

Melissa Aguilar wore a T-shirt with her cousin Christopher's face on it. "He was killed in a drive-by shooting," she said. "I guess it takes a bigger person to put the gun down than to pick it up."

As they resumed marching on Lincoln Avenue, some motorists honked and gave shouts of encouragment.

About 10 minutes later, the crowd arrived at a park next to the Casa Blanca Branch Library where they shouted to people in passing cars.

Spanish-language radio station KDIF set up a booth shaped like a giant red boom box with an amplifier from which speakers asked others to join the rally at the park.

Much like the New Year's Day march by 500 people through the Eastside of Riverside, yesterday's march was a statement against escalating gang violence, said Arturo Suarez, who participated in both.

At the Casa Blanca park, three trash cans marked "drugs," "guns," and "weapons" were set up inviting residents to turn in such items.

No one did.

"The boy who shot my son is in prison," Manzanares told the crowd. "But his parents can visit him. They can hug their son, but I can't."

Hernandez said, "We gotta let it penetrate to the pandillas (gangs). To those people who are doing the killing."

For more information about Mothers and Wives Against Gang Violence, call the Ishmael Villegas Community Center at (909) 351-6142.


Art: PHOTOS

Caption: 1.Tracy Lee Silveria

The Press-Enterprise

About 50 residents of Casa Blanca join Martha Hernandez, center, in a march through their neighborhood yesterday. Hernandez is a Casa Blanca Community Youth Service worker.

2.Tracy Lee Silveria

The Press-Enterprise

Eleanor Manzanares, center, receives a group hug from daughters Stacy, left, Angela Martinez and Juanita after speaking yesterday about the gang- related death of her son, Christopher Manzanares.

Zone: RIVERSIDE; SOUTHWEST; CORONA-NORCO



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

[stamps]

This article mentions Casa Blanca and the history of racial tensions in Riverside's Eastside/Casa Blanca

RACIAL CONFLICT: Angry neighbors: As tensions between black, Latino gangs boil over, leaders seek solutions
August 18, 2002
By LISA O'NEILL HILL AND DAVID SEATON THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE


RIVERSIDE

On the Eastside, where wealth is measured more in history than in dollars, oldtimers remember when race didn't matter, when blacks and Latinos watched each others' children and shared cornbread and menudo.
Now, kids are shot because of the color of their skin.

An 11-year-old feud between black and Latino gangs has driven a wedge between the races, fracturing this working-class neighborhood sandwiched between downtown and UC Riverside that for decades has celebrated togetherness. Some streets are carved by gang turf, creating de facto segregation between young people unaffiliated with gangs but whose lives are endangered by increasingly random violence.

"Black people stay where they live and we stay where we live," said Danny Rocha, 14, who lives on Seventh Street.

While gang violence has scarred many communities, including San Bernardino and Moreno Valley, the Eastside's interracial gang warfare is rare, gang experts said. Gangs usually clash over turf or drugs, and most frequently battle rivals of the same race.

Since May, Riverside police have investigated nine interracial shootings in the 2.2-square-mile community, including one that killed 13-year-old Anthony Sweat.

Only two of the victims were gang members, police said. Where gangs used to target only rival gang members, now they often attack young people based solely on skin color, Riverside police Sgt. Vance Hardin said.

Gunfire has erupted at parks and in front of homes. The violence has mobilized many Eastside residents, some of whom have worked for years to keep the neighborhood afloat. Peace rallies have been organized. Meetings have been held.

Last week, the Riverside City Council approved 15 proposals for long-term change on the Eastside, including bringing black and Latino leaders together and improving job opportunities.

But some observers say more meetings and youth programs won't be enough, and that the violence is fueled by community tensions, not just racism among teens.

"What's going to change?" asks Hector Vasquez, 14, who attended a vigil organized after Anthony died. 'When my cousins got shot, we had a march. Then the same thing happens all over again."

Diversity everywhere

The Eastside's multiculturalism takes center stage at the corner of Park Avenue and Ninth Street, where vendors peddle tacos and tamales outside Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine as blacks dressed in Sunday finery emerge from the Second Baptist Church.

Older generations remember an era of relative harmony, before gangs, guns and deadly racial strife barbed the streets of the Eastside, roughly bounded by Highway 91 to the west and Chicago Avenue to the east.

Starting in the 1870s, the Eastside attracted first blacks and then Latinos, drawn to the region by the citrus industry. They were united by exclusion from white neighborhoods and facilities. They played Mexican Ring -- a form of tag -- and Kick-the-Can under the watchful eyes of neighbors, returning home to unlocked doors. Residents gathered for dances along Park Avenue.

"It was a real community event," recalled Susan Strickland, 68, an Eastside native and president of the Riverside African-American Historical Society.

Blacks departed

Until the 1980s, Latinos and blacks populated the Eastside in equal numbers.

Upwardly mobile blacks begin leaving the area, some moving to more affluent neighborhoods such as Canyon Crest, residents say. Today Hispanics outnumber blacks nearly 5-to-1 in an overall population of about 17,000. Strickland says she has heard whispers of resentment that Latinos are taking over the Eastside. Even some long-time Latinos are uncomfortable with the influx of immigrants.

"It looks like Tijuana," Connie Rangel, 85, said of the parade of vendors outside Our Lady of Guadalupe. "They don't care about the Eastside." Many veteran residents say the busing of Eastside children to desegregate white schools cracked their sense of community in the mid-1960s.

Some date the growing influence of gangs to that time, and remember an influx of people from Los Angeles loosening neighborhood ties.

The Eastside seemed to suffer the pangs of urban decay typical of other inner cities: gang violence, drugs, prostitution, entrenched poverty.

At Longfellow Elementary, 92 percent of students qualify for the school lunch program because their parents are poor. More than half are still learning English. Reading and test scores fall well below the district average.

Many accuse the city of overlooking the Eastside in favor of downtown and UCR. "How long have I been waiting for change," said Nati Fuentes, a member since 1978 of the Eastside Neighborhood Advisory Committee, which helps the City Council spend anti-poverty funds. "It's slow. Very slow. I think the Eastside is kind of forgotten."

Shattered harmony

Black and Latino gang members co-existed in relative harmony in the Eastside until the early 1990s, Riverside County Supervising Deputy District Attorney John Davis said.

In 1991, black and Latino gangs joined forces to combat Latino gangs from Riverside's Casa Blanca neighborhood. They drove into that area and shot and killed a Latino teenager, who was not a gang member. Another carload of mixed gang members went into Rubidoux and shot at a black newspaper delivery man.

Davis said the alliance infuriated the Mexican Mafia, members of a prison gang who influence street activity for Latino gangs. "This was like a breach of gang etiquette," said Davis, who prosecuted 31 people in connection with the shootings. Since then, it has been black vs. brown, police said.

Interracial gang violence is rare, said Cheryl Maxson, a professor at UC Irvine's Department of Criminology, Law and Society. The violence could be an outgrowth of larger tensions in the community, said Maxson, who has done extensive research on gangs. "Rather than driving this hostility, (the gangs) may be reflecting it," she said.

Riverside police gang detectives say there are about 720 active Latino gang members in the Eastside, and about 180 black gang members. Gang members' bullets have often been intended for someone else. Police say that was the case on July 15, when teenager Anthony Sweat died after two Latino males walked up to him and a group of other blacks, shouted the name of a Latino gang, and opened fire. Police arrested two boys, 15 and 16.

In some cases, prosecutors have charged gang members with hate crimes because they said the primary factor was racial hatred, rather than gang rivalry. But motivation is difficult to determine, said Deputy District Attorney John Monterosso, who is prosecuting more than a dozen gang-related shootings on the Eastside.

"It's the old Hatfield and McCoys," said Hardin, the Riverside police sergeant. "They hate each other and they don't even know why."

Divided streets

On a recent Monday night, Riverside gang detectives Terry Redfearn and Joe Miera stopped to talk to about a dozen Latino youths sitting on bleachers at Patterson Park.

These kids said they stay away from gangs and are not members. But Miera said they could be targets because of the way they look. Gang members do not ask for identification cards before shooting, he said.

Several of the teenagers said they do not go to areas populated by blacks because they are afraid of being jumped by black gang members. Black teenagers living near Bordwell Park, about a mile south of Patterson Park, also say they don't stray far, especially at night, for fear of being taunted or attacked by Latino gang members.

Zachery Ricketts, a 17-year-old football standout at Poly High School, said he started carrying a long kitchen knife at night after he was jumped by a carload of Latino males. Zachery said he was stabbed twice in the thigh "because I was black." His injuries were minor, he said.

Zachery and friends Shane Macken, who is white, and Ralph Culpepper, who is black, rattle off tales of shootings and stabbings in and around Bordwell Park as if they were recalling starting lineups of championship teams. "I heard five shots last night," Shane, 17, says. "Man, we hear shots every day," Ralph, also 17, adds.

Kimberly Thomas, director of the anti-violence program People Reaching Out, says it has never been worse. She said some youths enrolled in teen programs this summer are afraid to walk to the Cesar Chavez Community Center for fear of getting jumped by kids of other races. Enrollment is down 15 percent, she said.

"Unfortunately, we're at the lower level of tolerance," Thomas said. "We haven't made it to acceptance. A lot of intolerance they learn, they get at home."

Strategic actions

Mayor Ron Loveridge and Ameal Moore, a black councilman whose district includes the Eastside, won approval Tuesday at a City Council meeting for 15 "strategic actions" to confront the violence, including:

* Developing a comprehensive gang prevention, intervention and suppression strategy within three months.

* Aggressively marketing home ownership programs, targeting areas where ownership is low.

* Improving job opportunities and training for adults and youth.

"We have to start thinking out of the box," Moore said. Some activists are challenging Eastside residents to accept responsibility for what is happening.

"We know who the drug addicts are. We know where the gang members are," said Ruben Guitron, director of Riverside Peacemakers, a gang-intervention program. "We've been taught, 'Please don't tell.' "

The director of a city program designed to reduce gang violence says many at-risk youths and gang members now have jobs and are leading better lives because of intervention. Project Bridge youth workers collaborate with other agencies to help youths deal with school, stay drug-free and find jobs and other services, said the director, Celeste Wojtalewicz. Pastors, parents and youth organizers have started bimonthly meetings to confront the Eastside's woes.

One theme that emerged at a recent meeting was a need to heal divisions and racism among adults -- even community leaders -- that some say is poisoning the youth. "We need to have one voice: Stop the violence. Save our youth," said Woodie Rucker-Hughes, president of the Riverside branch of the NAACP.

Abundant swagger

Yet the Eastside seems caught in a continuous loop of peace rallies and violence. Some residents say hope for better tomorrows is eroding.

Ricardo "Scrappy" Ruiz sees no end to the bloodshed. Ruiz is the leader of a Latino gang. Some of Ruiz's friends were charged with the slaying of a black homeless man last summer near a University Avenue fast-food restaurant. Police said they mistook the man for a rival. Ruiz's scarred body tells the story of his 19 years in the Eastside. He wears his head shaved, his boxers and shorts low, his socks high. Two gold medallions, including one of the Virgin Mary, hang around his neck. Ruiz is a fast talker, a self-promoter who brags about his way with women and his brushes with death. He said he has been shot, stabbed in the head, and attacked by pit bulls but has no plans to change his lifestyle.

"I don't want to," he said. "Life's short. I can die another way beside that. The world can end tomorrow." Last summer, Ruiz was shot in the upper chest by black gang members who fired at him and his friends during a drive-by at Lincoln Park. As Ruiz talks in front of his Patterson Street home, he constantly looks around him. He sways from side to side, and moves his arms back and forth, often slapping them together.

For all his boasting, Ruiz said he does not want his 13-year-old brother, David, to follow in his footsteps. "It's a bad life," he said. "My system is trust no one. I've been stabbed in the back."

Asked where he sees himself in 10 years, Ruiz replies: "Same place right here on the Eastside. It's my home. I ain't leaving this place 'til the casket drops." Ruiz said the violence is a fact of life. "It was always like this and it always will be. I don't see no improvement. It was like this when I was young and it's like this right now."

The Eastsides changing mix

Once populated equally by blacks and Hispanics, Riversides Eastside neighborhood is now predominantly Hispanic.

Black 14.8
Hispanic 72.4

NOTE: Data taken from census tracts that extend beyond exact Eastside boundaries. Source: U.S. Census

Recent gang violence on the Eastside

May 5: A black gang member shot a Latino gang member in the 2600 block of 11th Street.

May 22: A vehicle with Latino gang members chased a car of black gang members and fired shots at Ottawa Avenue and Enterprise Avenue. One round went through an apartment window, just missing an 8-year-old boy. Other rounds struck a parked car.

May 26: Three Latino gang members fired at a black newspaper deliveryman at Ottawa Avenue and Illinois Street, striking him in the leg.

May 30: Four black gang members fired at a Latino man at a Linden Street apartment complex. A 4-year-old boy was hit in the foot. Four people were arrested.

May 31: Three Latino gang members shot a black male in the head in the 3300 block of Franklin Avenue. The victim, who survived, was not a gang member, police said.

May 31: The same Latino gang members also shot at a black male walking toward North High School. The bullets missed and police did not find the target. Three people were arrested in connection with both crimes.

June 25: Black gang members shot a Latino boy in the abdomen and arm at Bordwell Park. The 17-year-old victim is not a gang member, police said. One person was arrested and several arrests are pending.

July 15: Two Latino gang members fired into a group of blacks at a University Avenue home. Anthony Sweat, 13, was killed. Police arrested a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy.

July 19: A Latino man was shot in the legs by black gang members in the 3800 block of Sedgewick Avenue. Police said the shooting likely was retaliation for Anthony Sweats death.

SOURCE: RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT


Section: A Section
Page#: A01

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CODE OF SILENCE: Lovestruck, but not streetwise, the Romeo and Juliet of the barrio were not meant to love long. Now a young girl stands up against a cousin as a witness for the prosecution.
August 10, 2000
By Mark Petix The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

He called her Krazy. She called him Mr. Drowsy.

Tiffeny Rose Keene and Armando Salcido Jr. were a Casa Blanca love story.

Romeo had tattoos. Juliet had a boy.

And they lived for a time in the brick house Tirso and Cecelia Ahumada built 50 years ago on Fern Avenue, a short street with a long, bloody history in Riverside's oldest barrio.

On this street, in and around the four-bedroom home with the large garden and the tall brick wall, the tragedy of the Ahumada family and the restless gangs of Casa Blanca have swirled for three generations.

Fern Avenue is home to the gang known as the Vagabundos. It is a small, mean world of crisp plaid cotton shirts and baggy pants, shaved heads, mad dog stares and challenges from rival Evans Street answered with fists and bullets.

Into this hard place Armando walked willingly, happily. Because of a girl.

Armando was introduced to Casa Blanca by Tiffeny, whose mother, Rose Ahumada Keene, is the youngest of Tirso and Cecelia Ahumada's five children.

For almost three years, Armando moved through the world of the Vagabundos with the blessings and protection of its best-known and most feared member, Danny Ahumada Jr., Tiffeny's second cousin.

Armando lived in Moreno Valley but spent much of his time on Fern Avenue. He was not a Vagabundo. He had the look, but police say he was not a gang member.

He was Tiffeny's fiance and Danny Ahumada Jr.'s new friend.

Then Danny died.

On Dec. 7, a gunman hiding behind a wall shot Danny in the back of the head. Danny was talking with another man outside La Mexicana Market. Police say he was ambushed while Armando stood close, watching for trouble from another part of Madison Street.

Armando struggled with Danny's death. He was depressed and quiet, Tiffeny says. One night he cried. It was the first death he had seen. He couldn't understand why Danny had to die.

But Armando was 18. He couldn't wait for the millennium to arrive. It would be a fresh start. A new life.

On Jan. 5, Tiffeny would be 18. They planned to steal away to Tijuana that day and be married.

Armando's millennium was three hours long.

A few minutes before 3 a.m. on New Year's Day, police say Tiffeny and Armando were confronted by three men outside her home.

Tiffeny says the men told her they had come because Armando had left Danny to die.

The men beat and kicked Armando, who was knocked to his back in the middle of Fern Avenue. When one of the men put a gun to Tiffeny's head, she says Armando jumped up and pulled a gun from his pocket.

The man wheeled and shot Armando in the cheek. The bullet tore through his brain and out the back of his head. There were six more shots.

"He fell with the first shot," Tiffeny said. "He fell pretty far back and tripped on the curb. It just didn't seem real. All I thought was, we're going to the hospital and I would bring him home and take care of him when he got out.

"I held his body in my arms. I was sitting on the curb holding him. The cops let me hold him for a while. I can't remember how long I sat there. Fifteen minutes. Forever. There was so much blood. Then the ambulance was sent away. They turned the lights off.

"I learned a long time ago what that means. And that really scared me."

Tiffeny and her son moved out of Casa Blanca that day. She could no longer stay in the home where her mother was born, where she was raised and 97-year-old Cecelia Ahumada still tends her garden.

She stayed with her sister in another part of Riverside until May, when the Riverside County District Attorney's office decided she would be safer somewhere else.

Tiffeny's new life was a string of motel rooms and a few belongings carted around in plastic tubs. On the dresser she kept a collage of Armando's photos and a small cross made with wooden stakes that briefly marked his grave at Olivewood Cemetery.

Her mother joined her for a time, leaving Cecelia Ahumada and Fern Avenue to help care for Tiffeny and her son, Armando Salcido III.

The rooms were much too small for a 2-year-old boy. There was a kitchenette, a television and too much time to think.

Tiffeny witnessed a killing in Casa Blanca. She had a decision to make.

"You can take care of it yourself," said Tiffeny's father, John Keene. "Or you let the police handle it. She can't do it herself. She's got a son to raise."

Riverside homicide Det. Bob Shelton asked Tiffeny to testify against two men arrested in Armando's killing.

To his surprise, she said yes.

Tiffeny is breaking the barrio's code of silence, joining a group so small in Casa Blanca's history that its known members can be counted on one hand.

"It is rare," said Shelton, who worked the Casa Blanca beat for years. "Very unusual."

One witness to a killing in Casa Blanca was brought to court in handcuffs. Two uncles once watched a nephew shot to death in a driveway. Neither would testify. The boy's father said he understood. The memories of other witnesses in Casa Blanca have faded once they reached the witness stand.

Tiffeny could not identify all three suspects in Armando's killing, but she told police 20-year-old Gabriel Avila is one of the men who beat Armando. She picked 21-year-old Larry Acosta from about a dozen photos and told police he was the man who shot Armando. Police say both are Vagabundos.

When she talked, Tiffeny put herself into an exile from which she would be unwise to return. She was in a secret place, where the Riverside County District Attorney's office hoped she could stay safe until she can testify in court.

This was Tiffeny's choice.

"I'm afraid, but somehow I have to do it," she said. "Armando wasn't afraid of them. I don't want it to show. How could I live with myself with these people walking around free? I have to do this for Armando. I have to do it for his son."

She was threatened at Armando's funeral. She was sitting with Armando's mother, Lilia, and sister, Yvonne Salcido Vences, when a Vagabundo delivered the message.

"He told me, 'If you rat, you die,' " Tiffeny said.

Police say she was also threatened by a Vagabundo who told her to identify someone else as the shooter. If not, she would be killed.

Tiffeny's family advised her not to testify, urging her to get on with her life. If she let it go, they said, she could stay in Casa Blanca where she belongs.

Tiffeny's choice has divided her extended family in still another way.

"I don't blame her sometimes," said her aunt, Carmen Ahumada Arevalo. "It's just the situation. You know, somebody has to talk. Right? Somebody has to say something.

"To me, the situation's kind of hard. Drowsy was her first love. My sister (Rose) liked him a lot. I also like Gabriel. He is very smart. Very nice. I like him a lot, too. And my granddaughters are related to him."

In a family tree that after 70 years provides shade for much of Casa Blanca, Tiffeny Keene and Gabriel Avila each have a place.

When Armando's alleged killers go to trial, and Tiffeny points a finger of blame at Gabriel Avila, she will be testifying against her distant cousin.

Tiffeny is half Mexican and half Irish. Half Ahumada and half Keene.

She has copper hair and large hazel eyes.

She is a child of Casa Blanca.

When Tiffeny was 3, her brother, Michael Mendoza, was stabbed to death on Fern Avenue. The 26-year-old died perhaps 60 feet from where Armando would one day fall.

Tiffeny saw her first shooting when she was 6. They called him Cornhead.

"Do you know what it's like to see someone die?" she said. "I don't remember his real name. I remember my mom wrapping a towel around his head. And the blood."

Too many times to remember, she has been a face in the crowd that always gathers when someone is killed in Casa Blanca.

Tiffeny grew up with the chatter of her family's police scanner as background noise. When police raided the house, a fairly regular occurrence in the 1980s and early 1990s, Tiffeny and her young cousins would carry guns through a field to another home.

"I wasn't scared," she said. "I always got the lightest ones."

In Casa Blanca, she says it was understood that if you needed to escape the police, or others, the Ahumadas' Fern Avenue home was one path to safety.

Tiffeny spent her childhood watching men run through her home.

Instead of cowboys and Indians, she said, it was Fern Avenue and Evans Street. The Vagabundos and the Devil Wolves. They were soldiers, like their cousins, brothers and uncles.

Wag a finger and say this isn't the way normal people live. This isn't the way it should be. And Tiffeny agrees.

But this is Casa Blanca.

"Things like that sound so bad, but there, it's so normal," she said. "Violence, I don't agree with it. But I don't know.

"Sometimes I look back and think it was a horrible way to be raised. But it is one reason why I am so strong now. In a way, sometimes I'm glad I am the way I am. I realize I can deal with things." Besides, she says, Casa Blanca is not just a place where gangs kill.

Love lives there, too.

Tiffeny and Armando met on Valentine's Day, 1997. She was visiting a friend in Moreno Valley. Her friend wanted to borrow a shirt from a neighbor named Drowsy.

"His picture was on the bulletin board, and I took it," Tiffeny said. "I was trying to hook him up with a girl named Darlene. I said, 'Hey, Darlene wants to be with you.' He said, 'No. I want to be with you.'

"I already liked him. I said OK."

They were 15, but she knew Armando was the one.

"We were so good together," Tiffeny said. "He was so sweet. We were going together for three weeks and he said, 'Tiff, I love you. Can I kiss you now?' "

Armando was happy. His mother, father and sister were worried.

The Salcido family moved from Santa Ana to Moreno Valley when Armando was 13.

"There was a lot of violence," said his sister, Yvonne. "We were trying to escape all that. We had no idea about Casa Blanca until my brother started telling me stories."

She remembers the first time she drove Armando to Tiffeny's house.

They got lost and ended up on Freda Avenue, one block south of Fern. They approached a group of men standing in front of a house drinking beer and asked if they knew where Tiffeny lived. One of them, Yvonne learned later, was Gabriel Avila.

"Gabriel told us to get out," she said. "He said, 'This was his neighborhood. Get out.' "

Armando kept coming back.

He had a job with a temp agency. Armando worked in warehouses and even drove a forklift.

When he worked, Tiffeny made him chorizo for breakfast, just the way Armando's mom made it -- three burritos, one with beans.

She told him stories about her family, and about the special privileges of life in Casa Blanca.

"I told Armando, don't worry about setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July," she said. "Casa Blanca doesn't count as Riverside. No cops go in there. They drive up and down Lincoln Avenue and wait for something to happen."

A year after they met, on Valentines's Day 1998, Tiffeny gave birth to a son. Armando was spending more time on Fern Avenue, learning to be a father.

"It was hard," Tiffeny said, "but we stayed together."

It was Tiffeny's turn to worry. She was glad Danny and Armando were friends, but Armando was moving in dangerous circles, smoking pot and drinking beer with the homeboys.

When Danny was shot, Armando ran to Fern Avenue to tell Tiffeny.

"Armando kept telling me that he didn't see it," she said. "He thought Danny had fainted 'cause there was no blood."

Tiffeny said Armando gave her a .22-caliber handgun.

"He told me Danny's last words were 'Take the gun out of the jacket and bring it home. I'm on parole.' He didn't think he was going to die."

After a 48-hour prayer vigil at Riverside Community Hospital, the family took Danny off life support. There were already whispers of trouble.

"At the hospital, one guy told Armando that his story didn't sound right," Tiffeny said.

"We told Grandma Cecelia what happened to Danny. We didn't feel we had to explain anything to the Vagabundos. Danny's our family, not their family. They're not founders. I didn't know something would happen to Armando."

Armando's sister, Yvonne, said the family begged him not to go back to Casa Blanca, but he assured them things had been straightened out.

"Gabriel talked to my brother at Danny's funeral," she said. "He told Armando it was all OK. I think it was just to make him think he didn't have to pay attention."

There were other signs of trouble, for those who believe in such things.

Not long after Danny's death, Armando's sister dreamed of a wedding where the bride wore white. Armando told her it meant someone is going to die.

Soon after, Tiffeny heard three sharp knocks on the bedroom wall. Armando said it was another sign that someone is going to die. She didn't think much about it.

"In my grandmother's house," she said, "the ceiling is knocking all the time."

The evening of Dec. 30, Armando was getting ready at home in Moreno Valley to go to Tiffeny's house, where he planned to spend the next few days ringing in the millennium.

"I remember my mom in the living room," said his sister, Yvonne. "She kept asking him in Spanish, again and again, 'Why do you want to go to that city of killers?' "

On Friday, May 19, Gabriel Avila and Larry Acosta were led handcuffed into Dept. 33 of Riverside Superior Court.

After two postponements, Tiffeny's time had arrived.

It is not unheard of for a key witness to testify at a preliminary hearing, said Det. Bob Shelton. There was another reason.

"They're having me testify at the preliminary hearing so, in case anything happens to me, it will still go to trial," Tiffeny said. "They're afraid somebody will get to me."

Tiffeny walked into court slowly and with tiny steps. Her head was down, her eyes up. She was pale and teary. She was a little girl summoned to the principal's office.

Prosecuting attorney Kelly Keenan led Tiffeny gently though the hours leading to Armando's death.

Sometime after 2 a.m. New Year's Day, Armando, Tiffeny and cousin Sylvia Pantoja had walked to La Mexicana Market. They wrote "In loving memory of Casper" in chalk on the wall above Danny's shrine. Casper was Danny's nickname.

Tiffeny drank four 12-ounce beers and a glass of champagne between 6 p.m. and midnight. Armando had been drinking margaritas, and had split a bottle of tequila with friend Orlando Rodriguez.

He was drunk, she said, but not that drunk. He had no trouble walking or speaking.

They were perhaps 100 feet from their home, on Madison Street near Casa Blanca Preschool, when three men emerged from Cecelia Ahumada's yard. Tiffeny said two shots were fired.

"I saw the flash of the gun," she said. "Armando pushed me down and said to stay down. He ran after them."

She believes Armando must have thought there was a misunderstanding, that he could clear it up by talking to the men.

"I followed 5 or 10 feet behind Armando," she said. "I just chased after him. As soon as he got there they started hitting and kicking Armando."

Keenan asked Tiffeny if two of the men were in the courtroom. Yes, she said firmly, pointing to Gabriel Avila and Larry Acosta.

Tiffeny said while Armando was being beaten, one of the men kept yelling at her to leave.

"I think it was Gabriel," she said. Tiffeny says he was yelling at her to get in the house.

"Do you have any doubts?" Keenan said.

"No," she said. "It was Gabriel. I am nervous. I am extremely nervous. Gabriel said (Armando) had to die 'cause he left Danny."

Tiffeny said Larry Acosta put a gun to her head.

"He said this had to happen, get in the house. I said no, I was going to stay with Armando. Armando had a gun. In his pocket. When he saw the gun to my head, he popped up."

"When was the first time you saw (Armando's) gun," Keenan asked.

"Right before they shot him," she said. "Acosta turned the gun on Armando and shot him once in the face."

Armando's mother began to sob. Armando's sister, Yvonne, cradled her mother's head in her lap. Armando's father stared ahead, one fist clenched.

"He walked up to Armando and shot him more times," Tiffeny said. "Real close, maybe half a foot. Real close. Armando's gun had no bullets in it. There were maybe three bullets before, but they were not there because we shot them off at midnight. There was no clip."

"So he knew there were no bullets in the gun," Keenan asked.

"Yes," Tiffeny said. "Acosta shot him a couple more times. I grabbed the gun. I told him 'Don't shoot him no more.' He looked at us, and then he ran."

Riverside gang investigator Bruce Blomdahl testified that when Danny was killed and Armando ran, the gang was embarrassed. The Vagabundos depend on fear and intimidation to maintain control of their neighborhood.

Armando was not a Vagabundo, Blomdahl said, but "they needed to do this to regain respect."

Gabriel Avila's attorney, Frank Guzman, questioned Tiffeny's sobriety, her eyesight (she can't see long distances well) and her memory.

He told Judge Becky L. Dugan that the charges against Gabriel Avila were groundless. Avila had never been arrested. At worst, he said, the shooting sounds like justifiable homicide.

Larry Acosta's attorney, Scott Davenport, questioned Tiffeny's memory and her truthfulness. He asked for charges to be dismissed.

"What we're looking at is Tiffeny Keene," Davenport said. "Is Tiffeny enough for a charge of murder?"

Dugan did not dismiss charges, and chastised Avila and Acosta. You show up at somebody's house at 2:45 in the morning with a gun, she said, and you're surprised when someone is killed?

"Sounds like a gang case to me," she said. "And even if (Armando) did shoot first, he was not only shot . . . he was shot not once, but multiple times. There is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial."

David Avila is devastated.

His son, Gabriel, graduated with high marks from Ramona High School in 1998. He attended San Diego State University before money problems brought him back to Casa Blanca last year.

Police say he has been questioned five times in connection with gang-related activities since 1993. He has friends in the Vagabundos, including Larry Acosta. But he has never been arrested.

Gabriel Avila faces a charge of first-degree murder, and a possible sentence of 25 years to life. Larry Acosta is also charged with first-degree murder, and faces a possible sentence of 45 years to life.

"My son had nothing to do with this," David Avila said. "He had no idea what was going on from where he was at. All he remembers is hearing the shot.

"Lies. It's lies. Unfortunately, things like this happen. Gabriel had no time to be in a gang. He had a good job as a lab tech. Why she made up these stories . . . why is she saying this? It really hurts me."

Det. Bob Shelton is pleased.

"I knew she would be a good witness," Shelton said. "She'll be even better at the trial."

There are no saints in this story. No angels with dirty faces. Tiffeny knows that. She must convince a jury Armando was killed by the Vagabundos because he left Danny Ahumada Jr. She knows how important her testimony will be at the trial, which could begin later this year.

"It's going to be harder, isn't it?" she said. "I know they're going to say it was self-defense. Armando needed to die 'cause he came out with a gun. That was Danny's gun.

"You can't really explain it to people. The gun was empty, but what would any man do if they really loved a woman? People right away want to jump to conclusions. They weren't there. They didn't see."

When she was brought to the waiting room before the hearing, Tiffeny says she could see Gabriel Avila and Larry Acosta in the courtroom. She started to cry.

"I don't know if I can do this." she told her mother. "I brought a picture of Armando to the stand. I brought it so I could look at it and remember why I was up there, the reason I had to do it. The reason I have to do this."

Tiffeny Rose Keene is 18 years old.

"I've lost everything," she said the day after the preliminary hearing. "My home. My family. I'm putting my own life in danger here. I don't want my son to be an orphan.

"Sometimes I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs -- why would I lie?"

The last weekend in June, against her father's bluntly worded advice, Tiffeny went home to Casa Blanca.

After six months of cramped motels and the kindness of relatives with spare bedrooms, she is back in her grandmother's house on Fern Avenue.

Tiffeny missed her grandmother, and she was tired of hiding.

She listens to Armando's music and rearranges the room they shared. At first the memories were good. Now she is uncomfortable.

"At the gas station, people come up to me and say, 'Don't do it.' " she said.

She recently ran into a cousin who used to greet her with a cheery "Hey brat." This time, Tiffeny was greeted with a "Hey rat."

Tiffeny still says she will testify. But as long as she remains on Fern Avenue, she is in the Vagabundos' world. In that world, fear keeps the silence. And history shows the streets usually win.

"I just want it to go away," she said. "For a little while.

"This place. I have to move. I don't think the same way these people do. They can't understand why I'm doing this. They really can't."


Art: PHOTOS

Caption: 1. From the day they met in 1997, Armando Salcido Jr. and Tiffeny Keene were a Casa Blanca love story. That story ended with his death on New Year's Day.

2. Armando Salcido Jr. came to Casa Blanca for love of Tiffeny Keene.

3. Jay Racz

The Press-Enterprise

The night Armando Salcido was killed, he and his fiance Tiffency Keene wronte "In Loving Memory of Casper" above the shrine erected where Danny Ahumada Jr. had been killed several weeks before.

Zone: ALL ZONES

Notes: Second of two parts.

[stamps]

FORGIVENESS, y TRUCHA: Danny Ahumada Jr., loved and feared Casa Blanca, sought life outside its gang-ruled streets. He gained freedom only in death.
August 6, 2000
By Mark Petix The Press-Enterprise


They shot Baby Danny. Put a bullet into the back of his head. A rival gang member hiding behind a wall caught him looking the wrong way one night last December and that was that.

Danny Ahumada Jr. died two days later. It was not just one more unbearable loss in a family that for nearly 25 years has been Riverside's own Greek tragedy.

On the streets of Casa Blanca, in the eyes of the gangs that own them, Danny was the last of the Ahumadas.

Danny's family believes in God's mysterious ways, and they wonder if death wasn't the terrible price of his redemption. The only way the streets of Casa Blanca would ever let him go.

That is how they feel. This is what they know:

As he neared the end of his 24th year, one thing Danny wanted desperately was forgiveness. The other was peace.

How many times Danny Ahumada Jr. passed that church, no one can say.

The barrio Casa Blanca is a small place. One square mile of Riverside. Sixteen city blocks.

Danny was always pedaling his bike somewhere, often on business for the gang known as the Vagabundos.

His gang.

The way from here to there often took Danny down Diamond Street, past the Church of God of Prophecy. His family church.

One Thursday night last November, he stopped and parked his bike. He would say later he didn't know why.

It is fair to say most of the 100 or so people at a youth service that night were thinking the same thing:

That's Baby Danny, all right. But why?

"He just came in," said youth pastor Ernie Tamayo. "He was crying. He was literally pulling drugs and bullets out of his pockets and throwing them at the altar."

Danny lay face down on the floor, arms reaching for the altar. He was crying like a baby. He was asking God to save him.

*****

Danny was tired.

Eight years on the streets of Casa Blanca had done that. So had two visits to prison. His knuckles were scarred and he had the dark eyes of a soldier who has spent too many hours watching for the trouble he knows is coming.

For gang members, trouble is a promise on the streets of Casa Blanca.

On the street, Danny always spoke in whispers.

"Trucha," he would tell sister Kim Ahumada Florez.

Caution. Stay careful. Stay alert.

At one time it had been exciting, his sister says. There is a freedom that comes with being a Vagabundo, a power that only gang members know. They call themselves a club, and club members are family. They watch your back and celebrate victories. They plot revenge against your enemies.

There are perhaps 100 active gang members in Casa Blanca, police say, a tiny percentage of the 5,000 people who call Casa Blanca home. Most people in Casa Blanca work hard and own their homes.

But Casa Blanca's gangs are powerful, and deadly. They own the streets, especially late at night, when the wise are safe in their beds. They are small armies at perpetual war.

"Casa Blanca will fight anyone," said Tiffeny Keene, Danny's second cousin. "But mostly, they like to fight each other."

Every year is the same: The west side of Madison Street against the east. The Vagabundos of Fern Avenue against the Devil Wolves of Evans Street.

At 24, Danny was a nomad who carried his neatly folded clothes in a plastic bag. He was always restless, and never stayed in one place long. He lived off and on with his mother in Colton and relatives in San Bernardino and another part of Riverside.

But he always returned to Casa Blanca. To the streets.

Some say Casa Blanca is a magnet. People leave but they always return.

Others say Casa Blanca is a Venus flytrap. It catches people and never lets them go.

"He wanted something more," said 24-year-old cousin Pete Sarry. "Something better. But (the Vagabundos) would come looking for him. They would pressure him. They'd say, 'C'mon Danny,' and there he'd go."

In that moment, 27-year-old cousin Frances Sarry says, Danny's beautiful smile would vanish.

"Danny knew something was going to happen," she said. "Just this past year, he was real tired. I know Danny was suffering. He was suffering inside."

*****

He was always Baby Danny.

Casa Blanca knew him the day he was born.

He was the son of Julie Contreras and Danny Ahumada. Johnny, Georgie and Ralphie Ahumada were his uncles. John and Mary Ahumada were his grandparents.

Baby Danny was their delight, and they doted on him.

"I remember his charro outfit," Contreras said. "He was 2. Grandma Mary took him to Tijuana."

She bought him the hat, the serape, the pants, the boots. The works.

"I remember walking to the fiesta," Contreras said. "People came out of their houses. They said, 'What's Baby Danny going to do in the fiesta?' I said, 'Nothing. He just wants to wear it.' "

He just wanted to look good.

After the fiesta, they took Baby Danny to Sears on Arlington Avenue and had his picture taken. Contreras says the family was so proud when the photographer asked if he could display a copy at the store.

It was a good moment. One of the few.

Danny Ahumada Jr. was a prince of Casa Blanca, a marquee name feared, loathed and beloved in the barrio and beyond.

He was born into a war.

"I think a lot of people don't know about the feud anymore," said 22-year-old Kim Ahumada Florez. "We didn't get along."

*****

The feud between the Ahumada and Lozano families had been simmering since 1964, when Danny's grandfather, John Ahumada, was beaten and left partially paralyzed during an argument outside the Casa Blanca Cafe.

Police said he had been clubbed with a tire iron, or perhaps a part from a commercial ice cream maker. When he testified against Marcos and Roman Lozano, John Ahumada broke Casa Blanca's code of silence, the unwritten law that demands justice be handled inside the barrio.

For 12 years after the beating, the feud was mostly a matter of playground taunts, name calling and fistfights.

It turned deadly 12 days before Danny Ahumada Jr.'s first birthday. On Christmas Day, 1976, Gilbert Lozano Hernandez, a 22-year-old visiting from Arizona, was shot to death by gunmen in a passing car.

Not long afterward, Johnny Lozano Hernandez was shot to death outside a party in Casa Blanca. Johnny Ahumada and close friend Ruben "Redeye" Romero were acquitted in the killing.

The revenge was violent, and it was personal.

When the 27-year-old Romero pulled his motorcycle into the Texaco station at Madison Street and Indiana Avenue in May 1978, he was shot by three men. They knelt next to his body, made the sign of the cross, then shot him again at point-blank range.

Over the next nine years, at least nine more people were killed, including Danny Jr.'s uncle, Johnny Ahumada. He was shot to death in 1980 while drinking a beer in the front yard of a friend's home. He was 24.

Danny Sr. was shot the first time in 1977. He had stopped to watch a street fight. Someone grabbed him by the hair and shot him twice in the head. The wounds left him partially paralyzed and without full use of one arm.

They finally killed Danny Sr. in 1984. He was assassinated by three gunmen while sitting in a car at the same gas station where Ruben "Redeye" Romero had been killed. He was 27.

At age 9, Danny became the man of the house.

The New Yorker Magazine wrote about the feud in 1979. That same year, the feud was featured on "60 Minutes."

It was Hatfields and McCoys in the barrio. It was the stuff of ghastly legend.

When the feud was over, most of one generation of Ahumada and Lozano men were dead.

There was never a formal peace, but there was a compromise of sorts. Several members of the Ahumada and Lozano families have married. Like it or not, the two families are now technically one.

"That feud we used to have, it's gone," said Danny Jr.'s great aunt, Carmen Ahumada Arevalo. "All that is over now."

The killing is another matter.

"It's never finished," she said.

Police and prosecutors familiar with the barrio say the feud set a new standard for violence in Casa Blanca. It also introduced high-powered weapons. Scores once settled with fists or knives may now be settled with a rifle or a high-caliber handgun.

During those early years of death and revenge, there was another Ahumada family tragedy.

In 1979, a van carrying Danny's mother, Julie Contreras, was struck by a drunken driver. She was thrown from the van and paralyzed from the shoulders down.

"Baby Danny had been through a lot," said uncle David Avila. "I remember once he sat there and cried. He didn't understand why all this happened."

*****

After the accident, Julie Contreras lived in Colton, near her mother.

Danny's sister Kim was an infant. Even with a full-time health attendant in the house, Kim was too young for Contreras to care for, so she lived with an aunt and uncle in Colton.

Danny was a little older. He soon became his mother's companion and helper.

"He was really caring," Contreras said. "You know, he was always inside with me, watching TV, talking. He was such a good person. He never yelled at us, never raised his voice."

Danny also had become expert with a steam iron.

"I taught him young," she said. "I couldn't do it."

He also became a good cook. Pork chops were a specialty.

With family, Danny was always loving, laughing and taking charge.

His sister remembers playing baseball with Danny in the yard. "It was always his turn to hit the ball," she said.

He played Little League baseball and Pop Warner football.

"I didn't want him to," his mother said. "I didn't want him to get hurt."

When Danny was 13 or 14, his sister says he stopped playing sports.

"He started spending a lot of time with his grandma (Mary Ahumada)," Kim said. "He began going more to Fern Avenue."

Danny had gone to school in Colton. He transferred from Colton High to a nearby continuation school. When he was 16, his sister says Danny was on the streets of Casa Blanca to stay.

"A lot of it was because of his name," she said. "His family took him out of the neighborhood, but Casa Blanca brought him back."

It was where his father and uncles died, and where his name brought him attention and prestige. Family members say he felt comfortable in Casa Blanca.

He grew up with death as his compass. Each time Danny passed one of Casa Blanca's terrible landmarks, cousin Tiffeny Keene says someone would remind him, "That's where your father died." "That's where they shot your uncle."

"They never let him forget," she said.

His mother was always afraid for Danny. In an anxious moment, she would call friends and family in Casa Blanca.

"I'd say, 'Please look for Danny,' " she said. " 'You'll think I'm crazy, but if you see Danny, you tell him I want him to call me that day.' "

Someone would eventually flag Danny down as he rode by on his bike. "And he would always say, 'How'd you know where I was?' "

Danny made the newspaper for the first time in 1993, when he was 18. He was arrested during a rock- and bottle-throwing melee that began as a traffic stop in Casa Blanca.

He was sentenced to two years in prison for assaulting a policeman.

In 1997, he received another two-year sentence for possession of the drug PCP.

When he was released from prison in July 1999, he lived off and on with cousins Pete and Frances Sarry in San Bernardino.

Their two-bedroom home was Danny's sanctuary.

*****

Danny was a good fighter, says Pete Sarry. Skilled and fearless, like his father and uncle, Johnny Ahumada.

They all learned from Rudy Garavito, Danny's great-uncle and the longtime coach of Casa Blanca's boxing club.

Fists don't hurt, Danny would say. Don't cry.

Danny was short, maybe 5-foot-4. But he was wiry and strong, and his fists packed a surprising punch.

He was a rough kid, as anyone on the wrong side of his fists soon learned. In those moments, Danny's eyes would darken. He had a face that could bring down the thunder.

"Don't get me wrong," said sister Kim Ahumada Florez. "There were two sides to Danny."

With family, Danny was kind and caring.

On the streets, he was different.

"Danny had a lot of pressure," said cousin Frances Sarry. "He'd fight if he had to, if he had to defend that name, you know?"

He fought a lot.

"I feel it was because of what happened to his dad," she said. "He didn't talk about him very often. It was just a famous name. Everywhere he went they knew him. It was hard for him to walk in those shoes.

"But when Danny was here, he was different."

The home the Sarrys bought in 1998 was a fixer-upper.

"Danny was our handyperson," said Frances Sarry. "It would take him all day to do anything. First he'd destroy it, then he'd fix it. He used to run over the sprinklers with the lawn mower, and we'd look out there and see him fixing them."

Danny broke at least two windows with rocks kicked up by the lawnmower. He also cracked the windshield of the Sarrys' car when he sprayed it with cold water on an especially hot day.

"He wouldn't tell us until after we discovered it," Frances Sarry said. "He would say, 'Oh, yeah, I was going to tell you.' "

He was a 24-year-old kid.

"I would wake in the middle of the night and find Danny asleep with the Play Station controller in his hand," she said.

He was restless.

"Danny would always go back and forth," she said. "He would say he needed to go home now."

Home was his mother's house in Colton, his grandmother's house in Riverside.

And Casa Blanca.

"I was afraid of getting that phone call telling me something happened," Frances Sarry said. "I would tell my husband, let's go look for him. I feel that in a way, he never had a chance. He had to live up to his name."

******

The evening of Dec. 7, Danny and 18-year-old Armando Salcido Jr. walked down Madison Street to La Mexicana Market.

In Casa Blanca, Madison Street is no-man's-land, says Tiffeny Keene, Danny's second cousin and Armando's fiancee.

To go there after dark is an act of bravado and a deadly chance. They call it being caught slippin'.

Caught off your own turf. Caught without enough protection.

Armando told Tiffeny that Danny had asked him to watch the street while he talked with a man he knew. Police say the man was a rival gang member from Evans Street. The Devil Wolves.

Armando and Danny did not see a second Devil Wolf hiding behind a brick wall. Danny was shot once in the back of the head at close range. Armando ran for help.

It was a Thursday, another youth night at the Church of God of Prophecy, which stands perhaps 300 yards east of La Mexicana. Some of Danny's family were in church when the news came.

Baby Danny's been shot.

An uncle, who asked that his name not be used, said the hall outside Danny's room at Riverside Community Hospital was quickly packed with family and friends. Danny was in a coma with a fractured skull. His head was badly swollen. He would not live.

"In the hospital I was astonished," the uncle said. "Even though we knew his condition, there was no anger, there was no talk of getting back. There was prayer, laughter. Everybody was telling Danny stories."

His mother says visitors filed constantly in and out of Danny's room.

"Everybody was talking to him like he was really listening," she said. "Old friends, family. They'd say, 'Baby Danny, wake up. We're all here rooting for you. Remember when we did this?' "

Before Danny was taken off life support, family and friends gathered in the hall.

"We were all in a line in the hallway," his mother said. "We all held hands and said a prayer."

******

After Danny had walked unexpectedly into that youth service the night of Nov. 11, his sister asked him bluntly if he really wanted to change. He was 24 and still in a gang.

"He said, 'Yes, Kim, I do.' But he didn't want to go back and forth," she said. "When he did it, he wanted to go all the way."

An uncle also remembers talking with Danny after the youth service.

In the church, Danny made eye contact with a rival. That's how trouble usually starts. But this time, Danny paused. He turned to his uncle.

"Does God love me, Tio?," Danny asked. "God is trying to prove me. I don't want to hurt nobody. I don't feel like hurting nobody no more."

Danny called his mother early the morning after the service.

"Guess what happened?" he told his mother. "I got saved last night."

He was just riding by the church and stopped. It was like something was pulling him in.

He spent seven hours that Friday with youth pastor Ernie Tamayo.

Tamayo had been a gang member on Riverside's Eastside until he was 17. If they had met on the street, he and Danny would have been mortal enemies.

But that day, Tamayo said he made Danny some of his famous pancakes.

"He asked if I had a football," Tamayo said. "He wanted to play catch. He kept saying, 'I feel like a little kid again.'

"He still had a lot of fear. He was scared. A lot of people didn't like him. It's that life. It's that name."

There was a religious retreat that weekend in the mountains near Big Bear. Tamayo does not believe Danny's visit to the church was coincidence.

They hopped in the car and headed to the mountains.

"We talked about how scared he was," Tamayo said, "and that he didn't know how long he was going to be around. He actually thought he was going to die that weekend."

At the retreat, before an audience of some 300 people, an evangelist called Danny forward.

"He just cried like a baby," Tamayo said. "He said no matter what happened, he can die because he had found God. He was crying out to God. His face. I'll never forget his face."

When Danny died, his sister Kim had some hard questions for God.

"Why, God, did you take my brother?" she said. "Why did you take our dad? Two generations of violence."

She knows at least part of the answer.

"It would have been real hard for Baby Danny to leave Casa Blanca because of who he was," she said. "The people wouldn't let him go. Maybe that's why God took him from me."

Julie Contreras wants the gangs of Casa Blanca to know about Danny. The real Danny.

"The tough guys in the streets, they've got the big, bad image," she said. "They have to realize they can change. That's what Danny sought."

Ernie Tamayo hopes the gangs will listen, but says at least Danny is finally safe. He says Danny couldn't find peace in this world, so God took him to the next.

"It just shows how merciful God is, even when you're living so wrong," Tamayo said.

"God knows when we're going to die, and I think he knew Danny was going to die. So he gave him a wonderful chance to feel a touch from heaven."

Heaven has not yet touched the Vagabundos.

The night Danny died, police say two Vagabundos out to avenge his death chased 34-year-old Anthony Garcia into a driveway near his Evans Street home.

They shot him five times with a rifle.

Police say the Vagabundos had one more score to settle, some high-caliber housekeeping involving a teen nicknamed Mr. Drowsy.

Armando Salcido Jr.

Danny had been Armando's friend in Casa Blanca. His protector.

And Danny was gone.

Coming Thursday in Living: Danny Ahumada Jr.'s death left cousin Tiffeny Keene an fiance Armando Salcido Jr. shaken, but they hoped for a fresh start in the new millennium. Before the sun rose Jan 1, 2000, Armando's dreams ended in gunsmoke and Tiffeny faced the most difficult of her young life.


Art: PHOTOS

Caption: Danny Ahumada Jr., 2, enjoyed showing off the charro outfit his grandmother, Mary Ahumada, bought for him. His family doted on him. He was a prince of Casa Balnca. Good moments became fewer for Baby Danny over the years: he became man of the house at age 9. Danny Ahumada Jr., shown in the prison yard at Susanville, was kind to family, but showed a different face to outsiders. As a short, wiry 7-year-old, Danny played Little League baseball. Kim Ahumada Florez pleas for and end to violence in a poem written in memory of her brother Danny Ahumada Jr.

Zone: ALL ZONES

[stamps]

I just want to say..God Bless Danny Ahumada Jr.!!!!!!! Because he was CALLED ON BY GOD!!, and found CHRIST,,, before his life was taken by Casa Blanca, the streets that haunted him...

[stamps]

If you noticed,,Gabriel Avila, son of David Avila was the person who was allegedly "harrassed" by Riverside Police in 1995 shortly after the helicopter was shot down..His father defended Gabriel, saying Gabriel was being wrongfully targeted and wasn't a gang member...Almost (exactly) 5 years later, Gabriel Avila and Larry Acosta, (Vagabundos) were charged with murdering Armando Salcido Jr.,,,who, in the eyes of the Vagabundos, "cowered" as Danny Ahumada Jr. was acosted and executed by members of the Devil Wolves...

[RuthlessCray]

crazy story.

[MiChuhSuh]

You notice in the middle pic they cross out the "LA" in "Blanca"..

\

Didn't notice that, I heard they are one of the few gangs resisting the LA gangs moving in

[stamps]

You notice in the middle pic they cross out the "LA" in "Blanca"..

\

Didn't notice that, I heard they are one of the few gangs resisting the LA gangs moving in

Well...there is no L.A. gang (Especially Hispanic) that could ever move into Casa Blana...Riverside yes,,but not CB,,,the families of CB have owned those house for generations...there would be nowhere for them (L.A.) to move in to!!,,unless they live in the the Lincoln Apts. at Lincoln and Grace (maybe Black gangsters from L.A.),,because that is a very big project like apartment complex,,but they would have to stay low key..CBR has co-existed with Blacks 'from CB' for years..Blacks from CB became the 2800 Blocc Crips, or Casa Blanca Gangster Crips...and that is the only place I know where Hispanics and Blacks leave each other alone in Riverside..

[RuthlessCray]

You notice in the middle pic they cross out the "LA" in "Blanca"..

\

Didn't notice that, I heard they are one of the few gangs resisting the LA gangs moving in

Every IE gang doesnt let LA gangs move in, atleast not in their neighborhood. but the IE has alot of "empty spots" or "no mans lands" where its easy for LA to move into. But I never heard of an LA gang settig up shot in an IE gang nhood

[stamps]

Police restraint noted in May 24 melee
However,the Riverside Police Department will review its policy on using police dogs and an officer will be disciplined in wake of a melee in Casa Blanca, Chief Fortier said.
July 23, 1993
By David Ogul The Press-Enterprise


RIVERSIDE

Although Riverside police used police dogs in a questionable manner and an officer made a vulgar remark, authorities were professional and restrained in a May 24 melee with an unruly mob in Casa Blanca, a Police Department probe found.

"The officers had to deal with what amounted to a riot out there," said Police Chief Ken Fortier. "They were trying to defend themselves while trying to control a very hostile crowd. All things considered, they acted in a very restrained manner."

Still, the department will review its policy on using police dogs in controlling crowds, Fortier said. "No policy was violated, but I don't think the dogs should have been used."

Also, a police officer handling a police dog will be disciplined for making the vulgar remark to a person in the crowd. The officer's name was not released.

The internal affairs probe was launched after a May 24 disturbance that occurred while police were trying to arrest suspects in an earlier assault and robbery. Police were led to the suspects' vehicle by a police helicopter, but when officers tried to take the suspects into custody, they reported that they were assaulted by dozens of people and surrounded by 150. Rocks and bottles were thrown, and one officer was struck by a board.

But residents say police taunted onlookers and attacked some with police dogs and batons. They argued the police response indicated the lack of respect authorities have for Casa Blanca residents.

Fortier defended the use of batons.

"Whenever an officer pulls out his baton, it looks bad," he said. "It's never pretty. But it was an appropriate use of force by officers who were being assaulted and being kept from doing their job."

Al Kovar, a member of a Casa Blanca Community Action Group committee that deals with police-community relations, said he has not seen the report and could not comment on it.

But, he said: "From what I've heard, I think some people are going to be a little disappointed in that they were hoping something would come out of this that would lead to some changes."

Patsy Navarro, who met with police and other community leaders last night and discussed the report, said both sides need to look at the other's point of view. She said that is starting to happen.

"I think that we're trying, and I think that they're trying. There's definitely been a change since Ken Fortier's been here and I think that's been appreciated," she said.

Police-community relations have long been troubled in Casa Blanca. They reached a new low in 1991 after police shot and killed an armed 16-year-old resident during a struggle with officers.

Fortier met with about 25 residents of Casa Blanca last night at the Villegas Community Center to explain organizational changes at the police department and hear questions and complaints. He said community members can help police isolate problems in the community and deal decisively with them.

He and area commander Lt. Jerry Carroll answered questions about police harassment, the practice of patrolling at night with car headlights off, stereotyping youths as gang members and police accountability. The two latter issues sparked long discussions.

Community residents have responded favorably to Fortier's efforts in the area since he took over as chief early this year. They even sponsored a welcoming party in his honor.

Following the latest ruckus, the department's internal affairs officers canvassed the area where it occurred and interviewed witnesses, many of whom said police were professional during the affair. Even the uncle of a teen-ager arrested during the melee said he had no problems with what occurred, the probe found.

A number of residents echoed those remarks. But some said two police officers, including the one who made the vulgar remark, acted unprofessionally. The second officer aggravated the situation by taunting onlookers, witnesses said.

Fortier said the situation could have been avoided had a group not interfered with officers trying to make arrests.

"There is nothing at all right with interfering with an officer who is trying to make a lawful arrest," he said. "That is not something we will tolerate."


Art: PHOTO

Caption: David Bauman

The Press-Enterprise

Riverside Police Chief Ken Fortier speaks to Casa Blanca residents at Villegas Community Center last night. In the background is a portrait of Ysmael Villegas, World War II hero. The center is named for him.

Zone: RIVERSIDE



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

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This article mentions Danny Ahumada Jr., which is the same incident as above.

Another violent clash with police
Police say they were hit by rocks and bottles thrown by a mob as they tried to arrest suspects in two earlier crimes. Some Casa Blanca residents say police roughed up a group of teen-agers without cause.
May 25, 1993
By Juan C. Arancibia and Janet Gilmore The Press-Enterprise


Two police officers and at least one Casa Blanca resident were hurt last night in a fracas that began with an arrest in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood - the latest in a long line of such clashes.

Police and residents offered two versions of the incident. While officers say they were hit by rocks and bottles thrown by a mob as they tried to arrest suspects in two earlier crimes, community members said police roughed up a group of teen-agers without provocation.

"They're provoking this trouble," said Dora Sosa, the mother of a woman who may have been injured during the disturbance with police. "They're supposed to be protecting you, not harassing you and then laughing at you."

Sgt. Dan Padelford and Lt. Jerry Carroll said it all began when a group of women invaded a house on Trey Avenue in Arlanza about 6:30 p.m., attacked a woman at the house with a screwdriver, puncturing her lung, and took a microwave oven. Information on her condition was not available last night.

A half-hour later, the occupants of a Toyota Celica matching the description of a vehicle involved in the break-in took a purse from a woman walking on Victoria Avenue at Cridge Street in the Eastside.

Then, about 7:30 p.m., a police helicopter unit spotted the Celica in Casa Blanca, Padelford and Carroll said. Officers on the ground then proceeded to the area of Fern Avenue and Cary Street, where the car had stopped and its occupants had gotten out.

Officers Rod McMillan and Richard Prince tried to arrest individuals walking away from the car when the area turned to a scene "like a barroom brawl," Padelford said.

He said a crowd of people nearby surrounded the officers and tried to wrest away the suspects from the officers.

By the time about 15 officers arrived to assist, a disturbance was in full force and officers were showered by rocks and bottles, the police officials said. McMillan and Prince were taken to Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center with hand injuries.

A 17-year-old Casa Blanca teen was bitten in the leg by a police dog. Padelford and Carroll said the dog immediately charged the teen after he shoved an officer.

Carroll said the minors showed signs of being under the influence of PCP and were taken to the hospital for blood tests.

It took about five minutes to quell the disturbance, Padelford said. Two adults and three juveniles - all from Casa Blanca - were arrested. The adults were identified as Mona Perez, 30, and Danny Ahumada, 18.

Names of minors are not released by police. The suspects were held on suspicion of battery on a peace officer and lynching, which is defined as taking a suspect from police custody.

By late last night more than a dozen people from Casa Blanca sat outside the Riverside General hospital to await word on the five people they believed to be injured. They also vented their frustrations with the Police Department and recalled what happened.

Teresa De La Rosa, 31, said police cars and a helicopter converged on the neighborhood for no apparent reason. Residents estimated the conflict drew 25 officers and a crowd of at least 150.

Two officers held down one person by his shirt, hitting him with their hands, residents said. Meanwhile, De La Rosa said, another officer grabbed another person and hit him while putting him in a police car.

At the same time, two officers pulled 14-year-old Veronica Savala, by the shirt. Savala said this happened after she told police officers to leave her cousin, Danny Ahumada, alone.

Onlookers, including De La Rosa and her sister, tried to stop the officers from grabbing Veronica. De La Rosa said officers then turned on those who attempted to intervene. In the process, De La Rosa said, police grabbed her sister and held a baton on De La Rosa and her husband.

An officer ordered a police dog to attack, De La Rosa and Savala said, and the dog bit two teens. Police said only one was bitten.

Residents who saw or heard about the fracas were outraged last night, expressing anger over what they considered to be police harassment and unprovoked attacks on Casa Blanca residents.

"It always seems to be a white cop who starts all the trouble," said Dora Sosa.

When police officers escorted one suspect to the hospital emergency room, a group of residents began shouting for justice, for police officers who protect them.


Art: PHOTO

Caption: Kurt Miller

The Press-Enterprise

Friends and relatives react as a victim of a police dog bite is taken into custody at Riverside General Hospital.

Zone: RIVERSIDE



Edition:
Section: LOCAL
Page#: B01

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Casa Blanca Evans St., which includes the Devil Wolves (DWS) and Diablos (DBS),,are at war with Casa Blanca's Fern St. Vagabundos.



Photo of Diablos graffiti (DBS) which alligns themselves with Evans St. Devil Wolves (DWS).



Photo shows Diablos (DBS), Evans St, and CBR (Casa Blanca Rifa (or Riva)



"WHR", or "White House Riva" (Casa Blanca) is common graffiti used by all gangs in Casa Blanca, no matter what side of Madison St.

[Lonewolf]

Those Placasos Pic's Look Firme STAMPS

Question; What does the 3 and the 2 represent
on that 3rd picture atop of the pole with DBS in-between?

[RuthlessCray]

C- 3, B -2

[RuthlessCray]

WE CAN'T EVEN TYPE THE LETTER 'C' in this site? lame.........

[stamps]

WE CAN'T EVEN TYPE THE LETTER 'be' in this site? lame.........

Thx.
The 3 is for "C",,third letter in the alphabet,,the 2 is for "B"..

[stamps]

that is lame,,it means "CB",,,#'s translated by the alphabet

[stamps]

Those Placasos Pic's Look Firme STAMPS

Question; What does the 3 and the 2 represent
on that 3rd picture atop of the pole with DBS in-between?

Thanks,,they put up alot of good stuff,,but they paint over it fast,,so u have to hurry up and get the photo..

[stamps]

Those Placasos Pic's Look Firme STAMPS

Question; What does the 3 and the 2 represent
on that 3rd picture atop of the pole with DBS in-between?

Thanks,,they put up alot of good stuff,,but they paint over it fast,,so u have to hurry up and get the photo..

[JSNCHZ951]

I hate to bring rain toa an already bad situation some 25-30 years ago, but these stories all give pity to the Ahumada family and by no means all the death was a waste, and no one should ever have to go through such violence, but where are the stories about the other family, the Lozanos. What happened to the stories about Raymond Lozano being shot to death on Jacaranda st while lighting his cigarette? Shot dead in the chest. Or Richard Lozano being shot in the mouth while backing out his car from the drive way, yet again on Jacaranda st? What about the two grandchildren of Gilbert "Tito" Lozano who were almost killed at infancy because their mom was takin them out of the car during the day to visit their grandparents? NO articles were published about that. How do I know this? Raymond Lozano died in my dad's arms, my dad tried to stop the blood, and his hands went into his chest. Raymond Lozano, my aunt held him when he took his last breathe. He died by choking on his own blood. The two infant grandchildren? Who do you think is writing this? The one and only.
The shots that killed Raymond and Richard were fired from a field across the street from my grandparents house. The alleged ones that shot them, escaped through an open man hole that opened up again behind Villegas Park. ANd you wonder why the others were shot in cold blood. It was a modern version of the Code of Hammarabi. See even though i was brought up by the opposing family, and we lived protected childhoods because we were afraid to go outside after dark. We didnt grow up to be gang members, but grew to become law obiding citizens. I can remember living where In and OUt Burger stands today, and waking up to get ready for school and see a bunch of cop cars outside with cops in the living room because someone had tried to kill us while we slept. The cowards shot from the freeway onramp and shot into my bedroom and missed my head by a foot. Where are those stories? Who is to publish them? Maybe both sides of the story should be given the opportunity to give their accounts. EIther way, I have two of the best grandparents and the best family anyone could ever ask for. They protected us, and still do.
No one deserves to die, but everyone deserves to tell their side of the story before any judgment can be passed. Maybe one day someone will contact one of us to tell our side of what happened. Until then this is the voice I give to my family my backbone, the Lozanos of Casa Blanca.