1 of 3 Killings Tied to Gangs; Sweeps Net 1,300 Arrests

Three people were killed in drive-by shootings Saturday night and early Sunday while Los Angeles police continued a 1,000-officer crackdown on street gang violence. At least one of the slayings, that of a 15-year-old boy, was classified by authorities as gang related, bringing the countywide total this year to 86.

Total arrests in the Police Department’s weekend show of force had topped 1,300 when the special task force operation was halted at 4 a.m. Sunday. In South Los Angeles, where about half the officers were deployed, 333 people were arrested on a variety of charges. Of those, 161, or 48%, were gang-related, Detective Bob Velasquez said.

However, police had less detailed information about arrests Saturday in the West, Valley and Central bureaus. Assistant Chief Robert Vernon said there were about 150 arrests in West Los Angeles; about 200 in Central, and only about a dozen arrests in the Valley bureau. He said he did not know how many of those arrested were suspected gang members.

Vernon said an absence of violence is the “ultimate measure” of the success of the police campaign.

“For a weekend with high temperatures, this was absolutely marvelous,” he said. Without the massive police presence, Vernon said he would have expected at least five or six violent gang incidents.

In the one slaying that police were certain was gang related, Jason Demyers was killed about 9:45 p.m. Saturday in a drive-by shooting on 6th Avenue near Pico Boulevard. One of Demyers’ two companions, 20-year-old Brian Flowers, was wounded in the attack.

Nine hours later, Francisco Pimentel was arrested at his home on suspicion of murder in connection with the shooting. Pimentel, 22, is an admitted gang member and allegedly had argued with Demyers, said Sgt. Sterling Gordon of the department’s Wilshire Division.

‘Just Goes to Show You’

City Councilman Nate Holden said the shooting during the police crackdown reflected the brazenness of some street gang members.

“It just goes to show you . . . (gang members) just don’t care,” Holden said. His 10th District includes the site of Demyers’ killing. “They know they’ll be arrested and be back out. Those guys don’t give a darn. They don’t feel threatened.”

Police said they did not know if gang activity contributed to the other two killings.

About 1:30 a.m. Sunday, a passenger in an blue Chevrolet shot and killed Enrico Bonner with a .22-caliber rifle. Bonner, 20, was standing outside the Casa Camino Real dance hall southwest of downtown, where he was off duty from his job as a security guard.

Luis Delgado, 21, was arrested in connection with Bonner’s death Sunday afternoon. Bonner had helped eject Delgado from the dance hall late Saturday night, said Detective Richard Hoffman of the Southwest Division.

About 4:30 a.m., Jose Platero was killed after he argued with the occupants of a car that had pulled alongside the car in which he was riding. Words were exchanged while both cars were headed north on Hoover Street near Adams Boulevard; Platero’s car was followed to the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Union Avenue and the driver fired two shots, said Sgt. Robert Plassmeyer of the Rampart Division.

Before the weekend’s massive anti-gang campaign, police had conducted nine earlier sweeps, using 200 to 300 officers at a time and concentrating only on the South-Central area. Those deployments resulted in a total of 1,413 arrests. Of those, 1,124 or 79%, were affiliated with gangs.

In the sweeps police stop and question anyone they suspect of gang membership, basing their actions on, among other things, how people are dressed and their use of gang hand signs.