LAPD Officers Ambush Suspected Members of MS-13 (1st-Hand Account)
It was the middle of the afternoon in Valley Glen Community Park, formerly Erwin Park, named for a nearby bordering street, when over two dozen police officers, not to mention a helicopter, descended upon three suspected gang members of MS-13.
The park, a fixture of San Fernando Valley, is positioned between Oxnard Street and Victory Boulevard, and bordered by Atoll Avenue and Ethel Avenue, but even more notably, it’s no more than a stone’s throw away from the now notorious Fulton Avenue, an area controlled by the Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13.
Just a day before the fourth of July a dry heat permeated the air and fireworks could already be heard somewhere off in the distance. The park is a regular stomping grounds for many in the community, children running along the playground with parents, neighbors walking their dogs, pick-up soccer games forming in large open sections of grass, and July 3rd was no different.
While jogging the track with a friend, which runs along the boundaries of the park, I noticed three high school aged teenagers sitting around one of the picnic tables trying to appear inconspicuous. I thought nothing of it. Many teenagers hang around the benches talking, smoking pot, looking for something to do.
After a few passes along the track, a LAPD-stamped SUV parked on Ethel. Just as I was about to make the turn towards the benches, my friend was running back towards me, saying to turn around. Looking over her shoulder, I saw the three teenagers with their stomachs to the ground and two police officers standing over them with their guns trained on them.
Just as we exited the park and walked along the sidewalk, sirens sounded and at first a half dozen, then a dozen, police SUVs pulled onto the scene. It was a raid. The suspects were quickly handcuffed and split up between groups of officers and, presumably, federal agents.
The park was still occupied by plenty of onlookers who watched in sheepish curiosity as the suspects were taken into custody. Eventually, the familiar roar of a helicopter blared overhead as more and more officers continued to appear on the scene. If it was a war of numbers, the LAPD had certainly sent their message.
The Los Angeles Times has reported that authorities stated there is no immediate threat to the community. However, two days later, fresh graffiti depicting the MS-13 tag was found on nearby walls on Atoll Avenue, Aetna Street, and in a nearby back alley of an apartment complex running along Oxnard Street.
Within the past two weeks subsequent raids have taken place helmed by the LAPD and FBI task force as a response to recent murders in the area, including Bradley Hanaway, 34, a homeless man who was accosted and shot in January at the Valley Plaza Recreation Center in North Hollywood, and to send a clear message to the gang that their “presence will not be tolerated in San Fernando Valley or anywhere within the city of Los Angeles,” according to a statement issued by the LAPD.
“Over the past year, tagging and other evidence of MS-13’s presence has been observed at multiple locations throughout the Valley,” the LAPD said in the statement. “Officials believe the gang is attempting to establish a foothold by directly challenging rival gangs in the area.”
The Fulton clique of the gang has been linked to several murders, including 16-year-old Brayan Andino at Lake Balboa Park in October of 2017. The gang has used tactics of ritualistic murder and they are known to dismember their victims by way of intimidation. One prosecutor described the brutality as “medieval” in the indictment.
I have inquired to the LAPD for updates regarding the graffiti, who then sent my information to Lt. Cervantes of the Van Nuys PD. I have yet to receive comment.
