After a period of relative quiet, several gang incidents in the
city erupted over the weekend, according to Morgan Hill police
Cmdr. David Swing.
Morgan Hill – After a period of relative quiet, several gang incidents in the city erupted over the weekend, according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
Three separate incidents on Saturday involved clashes between rival Sureño and Norteño gang members.
At approximately 7:10pm, Swing said, officers responded to reports of a gang fight at the Terracina Apartments complex. One 14-year-old male was arrested, charged with providing false information to the police and fighting in public. He was cited and later released to his family.
Later Saturday night, at 9:20pm, there was an incident at the Murphy Ranch Apartments complex, Swing said. A window of one of the apartments was shattered. The family who lives in the apartment are believed to be Sureño affiliates, he added.
Approximately 15 minutes later, two 20-year-old Sureño gang members walked out of the Longs Drugs on East Dunne Avenue and were accosted by a group of 10 Norteño gang members, Swing said. They threatened the Sureños with a baseball bat and the Sureños fled. The Norteños group allegedly shattered the windows of the car the Sureños were in.
Swing said the Sureños reported they saw one of the Norteños with a black handgun. One of the Sureños was the victim of a stabbing a few years ago; neither of the men was hurt Saturday.
Though the city has not experienced much gang activity in recent months, Swing said there is no indication that Saturday’s flare up has anything to do with the murder trial of Norteño member Anthony Frausto.
“It may have been the warm weather, sometimes people get a little bit ornery when it’s hot, but hopefully this is not a precursor of things to expected when summer arrives,” he said.
Frausto, 20, is accused of shooting Luis Bautista, 19, of Gilroy on Sept. 30, 2005. Bautista later died of his wounds. The jury in Frausto’s case was on recess Monday and resumes deliberations today.
