Gang Members Firebomb Anti-Drug Activist’s Home

Gang members firebombed two homes in Willowbrook today, apparently in retaliation against a 47-year-old father’s efforts to halt drug sales nearby, authorities said.

As many as five gasoline-filled bottles were thrown at the two houses, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Dennis Walsh.

Ramon Fuentes, who lived in one of the homes, had confronted gang members outside his house Sunday, telling them to go somewhere else to sell drugs, according to sheriff’s deputies. On Monday, a shotgun was fired at the Fuentes home, but no injuries were reported.

A youth believed to have been involved in the shooting was struck by shots fired from the Fuentes home, deputies said. He was taken to Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center, where he was treated for a wound in the upper torso.

No one was in the houses destroyed in the firebombing today.

“Apparently the family had had death threats, and so they left their house yesterday under police escort,” Walsh said.

Two suspected gang members were seen running away from the neighborhood after the fires broke out, deputies said.

The fires were reported at 12:45 a.m., and it took firefighters about 20 minutes to put out the blazes. The combined loss was estimated at $124,000 for the two houses and contents, Walsh said.