2 Face Charges Under Blythe Street Gang Crackdown

Two alleged gang members were charged Monday with violating a sweeping court order that attempts to clamp down on gangs by prohibiting normally legal activities in the Blythe Street area.

Rene Carlos Valdez, 20, of Palmdale and Cuthbert Sumayah, 28, of Panorama City were charged separately at Van Nuys Municipal Court with violating the court order by trespassing at an apartment building on Blythe Street.

The two men became the latest adults charged under a controversial injunction obtained by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office in April to combat gang activities in the crime-plagued neighborhood. Three other adults have been charged since August but only one has since been prosecuted.

The injunction prohibits gang members from standing on rooftops, possessing pagers, possessing glass bottles and being on private property without written permission of the owner, among other activities.

The injunction was designed by city officials to help police curb drug sales and intimidation of residents in the 180-square-block area covered by the court order.

“The part of the injunction prohibiting trespassing is particularly important in combatting the gang’s drug-trafficking operation because members involved in dealing loiter around apartment buildings and then run into them to elude police,” City Atty. James K. Hahn said in a prepared statement.

Valdez was arrested Oct. 31 as he stood in the entryway of an apartment building in the 14600 block of Blythe Street, according to a city attorney’s spokesman. Valdez is scheduled to be arraigned today. If convicted, he faces up to two years in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Sumayah was arrested Nov. 9 after he and three companions ran into the same apartment building when they saw officers approach in a police car, according to the city attorney’s spokesman. The three companions escaped.

In addition to trespassing, Sumayah was charged with threatening a police officer after his arrest. He faces up to three years in jail and a $3,000 fine.

Jessie (Speedy) Gonzalez, 18, of Panorama City was the first adult convicted of violating four counts of the injunction. He was sentenced Aug. 24 to 90 days in jail. Two other adults have since been charged with violating the order, but both have failed to appear at their scheduled arraignments.

David Meyer, Los Angeles County’s acting public defender, said his office is appealing Gonzalez’s conviction on grounds that the injunction violates his constitutional rights.

“As bad as the problem of gang activity is, it’s a bigger problem to violate the Constitution,” Meyer said. “If they can do it to a gang member, they can do it to anybody.”