Archival Gang and Crime footage, 1996 – 1998, Vol. 2

The following DVD has 26 separate clips from 1996 to 1998 with a running time of 2 hours 28 minutes. Detailed descriptions of all the clips are below.

1. White Suburban Gang Members, interview of male and female white suburban gang members and their parents. One of the mother’s (Bonnie Elseman) son was involved in a 6 car shootout (1992) that made the cover of TIME magazine. He was affiliated with a Hoover Crip set. Jimmy Farris’ parents (James Farris Sr.) briefly speak on how he was stabbed and killed y local white gang members from Augora Hills in 1995. Christopher Velardo, 17, Micah Holland, 15, Brandon Hein, 18, and Anthony Miliotti, 17, as well as the actual killer Jason Holland, 18, were all charged with Farris’s murder. They were members of a gang called Gumbys (7 min).

2. LA Sheriff raid Houses in Athens to search for wanted gang member (1 min): Alesha Dyer, the girlfriend of wanted fugitive from Athens Park Bloods in South LA complains at a press conference about the treatment residents are receiving from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department. Sgt. Ron Spear from the Sheriff’s department states that Demetrius Franklin is wanted for a brutal murder and a known gang member (2 mins).

3. John Hurley talks about committing attempted murder where he pleaded guilty. His attorney Edward Zaloba negotiated a plea deal of 4 to 12 years for the April 3, 1994 attempted murder in Rockaway, Queens when he attempted to kill Jermaine Ramsey, and shot a total of three people in Queens. Hurley claims that the was racially harassed by Ramsey (5 min).

4. Freeway Rick Ross talks about Danilo Blandon, his Nicaraguan cocaine connection. There were rumors that Blandon was linked to the CIA and that they was aware of the drug trafficking. Congress woman Maxine Waters calls the CIA racist criminals but Rev. Jesse Peterson criticizes Waters’ position and says that her outrage is not sincere and only politically motivated by the upcoming elections (2 mins, 1996).

5. White Fence Gang member Felipe Herrera and Raul Montano talk about getting shot and show off their wounds. The story also features Teens on Target program with young paraplegics who have been injured by gun fire (3 mins, 1996).

6. Retired LAPD Cop Raises Awareness about CIA’s Involvement with Drug Contras. Former LAPD officer, Michael Rupport, claims that since 1979 the CIA has been involved in drug dealing. The operations Amadeus, Pagasus, and Watch Tower were all agency operations linked to drug dealings according the former LAPD officer (3 mins, 1996).

7. Inmate Preston Tate is shot and killed by Guards in Corcoran Prison. One of the inmates stated that there were no warning shots and that the shooting was a setup. One employee believes that the shooting by the guards was murder. Tate had no weapon and it was not a life threatening situation. Eddie Myers of the CDC admits that Tate should not have been shot and that is was not a good shoot as their initial report suggested. The Vincent Tulumis shooting was also justified. Guards Lt. Rigg and Richard Caruso blew the whistle on bad shootings at Corcoran (6 min).

8. Woman Shot by Gang members in Anaheim for Reporting Graffiti is recovering from an abdominal wound. The shooter was writing Calle Flores on a garage in the City of Orange in Orange County (1 min).

9. Gang Members Hurt During Shootout in Santa Ana. Three gang members are taken into custody after an officer involved shooting in Santa Ana after a brief pursuit (1 min).

10. Black family in Torrance are racially Harassed by Hispanic Neighbors. Hispanic residents write graffiti and firebomb the car of a new black neighbor in Torrance. Michael Daniels, 28 is the only black family on the block and the Hispanic gang members have been racially harassing him. Some Hispanic want him to leave the neighborhood. A juvenile and alleged gang member was arrested for the firebombing (2 mins, March 1997).

11. Mailman Shot in Mid-City Los Angeles. Michael Berry, 41, US mailman, shot on 15th & Manhattan Place and in critical condition (1 min, March 1997).

12. Cop and Son Shot in Pico Rivera Home. Officer involved shooting in Pico Rivera, an off-duty Maywood police officer, Richard Elizondo, and his 15-year old son, Richard L. Elizondo, were shot on 8900 Galeton near Rosemead in Pico Rivera. Elizondo was paralyzed as a result of the shooting and was Ismael Michael Medina, a gang member from Rosemead, was convicted and sentenced to two life sentences (2 mins, Jan 1998).

13. Two Cops Shot in Lakeview Terrace. LAPD officer Donald Boon & Manuel Solis were shot as they answered a domestic violence call. Reynaldo Rivera was taken into custody for the shooting (1 min, Jan 1998).

14. Two Vons Employees were Shot While Working. In LaVerne two Vons employees are shot during a robbery (1 min)

15. Stiff Gang Injunction Placed on 18th St. Gang in Los Angeles. Termite is an 18th Street gang member linked to the Mexican Mafia. The City of LA is imposing a gang injunction against 2 separate 18th Street gang neighborhoods. City Attorneys Nicole Bershon & Lisa Fox supports the gang injunction (2 mins, 1998)

16. Gang Members Turn to Religion. Robert Mena Jr. is a gang member as was his father and grandfather. Father and son talk about their gang past, and Mena talks about being a CNA member. The father helped get his son out of the gang and turn their life to God via the Victory Outreach Church (3 min, 1998).

17. Johnny Cochran defends Geronimo Pratt, Free After 27 Years in Prison. Stuart Hanlon and Johnnie Cochran are fighting to get Elmer Geronimo Pratt released from prison after 27 years in a hearing. Harry Sondheim is the prosecutor that stated that Geronimo Pratt received a fair trial and did not believe that he should be released. At least one juror said that information should have not revealed in the original trial. Julius Butler testified against Pratt and it was revealed that Butler was a confidential informant for the LAPD. Pratt gets released and goes home to Louisiana, spends time with family, Hiroji Pratt, Ginny Pratt (9 mins, 1997).

18. Cops Designate Legal Graffiti Areas for Taggers in Redmond, Washington. Jim Forbes likes writing graffiti on the wall that the police provided. Police officers Bill Corson and Nick Lovell convinced the city to build a graffiti wall to give taggers an outlet which reduced graffiti in the city (5 min)

19. Latino Female gang members interviewed in LA. Female gang members from Tepa in the Lennox area and Drifters from the Pico Union area talk about life in a Los Angeles Hispanic gang (26 mins, 1997).

20. LAPD Officer Filbert Cuesta shot and killed by a member of 18th Street. Tony Tejeda knew officer Cuesta, who was shot and killed in an 18th Street gang neighborhood off Adams and Hauser. Cuesta was an officer with LAPD’s Southwest division that responded to a party with 18th Street members where one was accused of shooting out the back window of the LAPD cruiser, and that shot killed Cuesta. Sylvia Cuesta, his wife speaks on the killed and the suspect, Catorina Gonzales was actually arrested by Cuesta recently, but there were no negative tensions between the two. Michael Artan, defense attorney, believes that the wrong person was arrested (14 mins, Aug 1998).

21. A Succession of Gang Killings in Pico Rivera have Residents Worried. Is there a rise in shootings? In four days three people were gunned down in Pico Rivera. A Montebello gang member was killed in a car-to-car shooting and at Tommy’s Burger was another murder. The third killing occurred on Layman & Gallatin (2 min)

22. Prolific Tagger is Sentenced to 455 Days in Jail. Graffiti Writer Daniel “Chaka” Ramos is arrested and sentenced to 455 days in jail (1 min).

23. LAPD Officer Brian Brown, 3rd officer killed in year. While near the LAX airport in Culver City he was shot. The suspect, Oscar Zatarain, 23, was later killed at LAX the same night. He was an officer assigned to LAPD’s Pacific Division. Zatarain, an alleged member of Varrio Inglewood gang, was gunned down near the Fox Hills Mall (Westfield) along with his partner Francisco Dominguez. The second suspect, Jaime “Alex” Mares, 23, who drove the fleeing car, was shot but survived. (10 mins, December 2008)

24. Live Coverage of Police Standoff with Armed Man in a Car in San Pedro. LAPD pursue robbery suspect to San Pedro who brandished weapon and engages in a stand off with the police. The SWAT team was called in. (8 min)

25. Corrie Williams,17, hit by stray bullet in gang shooting in Watts between Bloods and Crips in January 1997. She was riding an MTA bus from Centenial High School. Trial began in the murder in a Compton courthouse. Three men were convicted on the murder Robert Johnson, 17, was convicted of being the trigger man. Robert Grace, prosecuted the case and was nearly attacked by one of the defendants after the verdict. Wilbert Pugh and Randall Amado were the other two defendants convicted. Loretta Thomas is the mother (6 min, 1998).

26. Gangs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, talk show about gangs in Pittsburgh with a Crips member and a member of the Law (25 min, 1996)

Total time: 148 minutes