Local News in Brief : 4 Confess to Gang Spree
Four youths linked to Los Angeles’ “Crips” gang have confessed to planning a Reno, Nev., crime spree that ended in the rape of a 13-year-old girl whose lone dollar they stole, police said.
The four, age 13 to 22, were almost boastful about the crime, said Assistant Reno Police Chief Robert Kirkland, who complained that “the gang problem in Reno is growing.”
Kirkland said the group robbed a 17-year-old of his watch and wallet, then went on the prowl for a girl to rape.
He said William Russell Wright, 22, and Marc Lamar Banks, 19, who were arrested on suspicion of kidnaping and sexual assault, had come from Los Angeles and joined a 16-year-old suspect, who was a member of the Crips before moving to Reno last year. The other suspect is a 13-year-old apparently recruited from the area, police said.
The incident was “just the latest” in a string of violent acts several dozen Crips gang members are believed to have committed in the Reno area, Kirkland said.
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