Homes Raided, Burned in Fight Tied to Protest of Drug Dealing

The homes of a Willowbrook father and daughter were pelted with gunfire, burglarized and firebombed, all apparently acts of revenge stemming from the father’s efforts to halt a drug sale, authorities said.

The bungalows had been vacated by the families after a gunfight with half a dozen youths Sunday night. Early Tuesday, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said, the youths returned and threw at least five gasoline-filled bottles at the two houses. No injuries were reported in the fire but the homes were heavily damaged, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Herbst.

Herbst described family members as “very, very scared.”

Living Elsewhere

“Right now they are staying with relatives and we are attempting to relocate them,” Herbst said. “But I think that everything is pretty much over. I’m sure the people that did this are feeling like victors right now.”

Police said Ramon Fuentes, who lived in the 11800 block of Alabama Avenue, and his daughter, Veronica Hernandez, and her husband Victor, who lived next door, were victims of a series of increasingly violent attacks that occurred after the father tried to disperse a group of young men who had congregated in front of his house Sunday night.

Police say the neighborhood, just south of Watts, is frequented by gang members and is a known area for drug peddling. But the officers do not believe the incidents were gang related.

The troubles began just before midnight Sunday, when Ramon Fuentes confronted a group of neighborhood youths who he suspected were conducting a drug deal on a sidewalk in front of the homes. Fuentes told them to go away.

Family members told police that several youths shouted threats at Fuentes and said they would return.

Return With Shotgun

A short while later, several did return--one carrying a shotgun. There are conflicting accounts of who began firing, but a gun battle left one man, who police say has admitted carrying the shotgun, wounded in the torso. He was identified as Ricky Gary, 19, who was in stable condition at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. Gary has not been charged with a crime.

The youth has denied he fired the shotgun, but the Fuentes home was pocked with shotgun pellets and a living room wall was also damaged from gunfire, said Sheriff’s Lt. Don Handley.

Police say several witnesses have said that Fuentes fired the shot that wounded the youth. Fuentes and family members deny he fired a gun, Handley said.

Lee Roberson, 36, who lives next door, said she had stepped onto her porch late Sunday night when the gunfire erupted.

“I saw somebody standing in front of his (Fuentes’) house holding a shotgun, firing it into the air,” Roberson said. “Then I saw him fall to the ground. I didn’t think gunfire was coming from the house. I couldn’t tell where it came from; there were a lot of people in front.”

Several hours after the gun battle, two cars belonging to the family that were parked in front of the Fuentes home were firebombed, causing about $1,000 damage, Herbst said.

Soon after that, both families--including a large number of relatives--decided to flee. But when one of them returned Monday to check on the houses, he found that they had been burglarized, Herbst said.

Several videocassette recorders and television sets were taken from the homes, said Herbst, adding that police believe the burglaries are related to the previous incidents.

The firebombing occurred at about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, deputies said, and it took firefighters about half an hour to put out the flames. The loss was estimated at about $124,000 for the two houses and their contents, fire officials said.

“After all that’s happened, with gunfire, and firebombs aimed at them, it’s pretty amazing none of the family was hurt,” Herbst said. “I think it’s safe to say these people came out lucky.”