Gang Fight at Jail Tied to Drive-By Slaying of Pregnant Woman

A fight that broke out between rival gang members at County Jail in Chula Vista on Monday has been linked to the drive-by slaying of a young, pregnant woman over the weekend, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

“The reason they started fighting here was apparently in retaliation for what went on outside,” Lt. Dennis Runyen said Tuesday.

Barbara Pargo, 21, was shot to death Saturday night while standing at 49th Street and Solola Avenue in Southeast San Diego. Pargo, who was three months’ pregnant, was reportedly the girlfriend of a member of the Crips gang, Runyen said.

“As far as we can decipher, the pregnant female’s residence is supposedly in an area controlled by the Pirus,” a rival gang, Runyen said. “I don’t know if they tried to hit her or if she just got caught up in it.”

Friend Also Shot

A friend who was standing with Pargo on the corner, Anthony Lewis, 22, was also shot. He was treated for neck wounds at Paradise Valley Hospital and released the same night.

Runyen said it appeared that several alleged Crips members in the jail’s “heavy felon” housing module started the brawl about 1:30 p.m. by attacking members of the Pirus. Some of the inmates took up broom handles, but the fight was halted by deputies before any weapons were used, Runyen said. A knife, made of a piece of metal from a jail bunk, was discovered in the area of the altercation and turned over to deputies after the fight.

Three inmates received minor injuries, including one who was hit on the head with a metal cup, Runyen said. All six inmates involved have been removed from the module and segregated from the other inmates.

May Have Been Gang ‘Hit’

Runyen said none of the combatants are suspected of being involved in Pargo’s death or with the Sunday night slaying of Kurtis Perone, which may also have been gang-related. Runyen said the inmates indicated that the drive-by shooting of Perone, who was shot in the head while he sat in his pickup truck on 41st Street south of F Street, was a gang “hit” in retaliation for Pargo’s death.

However, San Diego Police Sgt. Hank Olais said it was “impossible” that the Perone killing was connected to gang warfare. Olais said Perone, 24, of Mission Hills, “is white and has nothing to do with the Pirus or Crips.” No suspects have been identified in the Perone slaying.

Detective Richard Allen said there was no new information on the Pargo killing. Allen previously said that the shooting may have been drug-related and that Pargo was probably an innocent bystander.

Can’t Make Connection

“I don’t know if we can connect anything that happened in the jail with her,” Allen said, adding that he had not talked to the fight participants. There are no known suspects or motives in the shooting.

Runyen said the tank where the rival gang members were housed was designed for 24 inmates but now holds more than 100.

“Every module is overcrowded, so we can’t always separate them in different tanks, even if they’re gang members,” he said.