Man Charged Again Under Blythe Street Court Order

A Panorama City man who was the first purported Blythe Street gang member charged under a sweeping injunction that bans numerous activities in a 180-block area has again been charged with violating the court order, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said Tuesday.

Jessie (Speedy) Gonzales, 19, was charged in a new criminal complaint filed Monday in Van Nuys Municipal Court after he and two others fled from officers of a Police Department anti-gang unit who said they observed them apparently selling drugs on the street.

He has been charged with two counts of trespassing and four counts of violating a court order, each of which carries the maximum misdemeanor penalty of six months in jail and $1,000 fine or both. The first charge was brought against Gonzales in late August when he was prosecuted for carrying a pager and a glass bottle that he allegedly threw at a police car.

The new case has been continued until Jan. 31, pending the outcome of a motion by Gonzales’ attorneys to dismiss the case on the grounds that the court order is unconstitutional.

Members of the Blythe Street gang were banned from engaging in 22 separate activities that are legal for most citizens, such as using pagers and cellular phones, in a court order obtained last February by the city attorney’s office, which showed the activities were part of an illegal scheme.