Abandoned House Used as Gang Haven Is Demolished

Shortly before the large, beaten-up Victorian home best known as a gang haven took its first hit from a bulldozer Monday, Mary Lou Trevis was beaming.

After all, the graffiti-covered, burned-out, abandoned building at 1508 Pennsylvania Ave. in Boyle Heights deserved to go. For about the past two years, city officials said, the building had been controlled by Primera Flats gang members who terrorized the neighborhood with violence and intimidation. The crimes occurring in the house and in surrounding areas included murder, rape and robberies. The house sometimes served as a refuge for addicts and runaways.

“We do not want this type of activity to continue to take place in our community,” said Trevis, president of the Neighborhood Watch Advisory Council, which covers Boyle Heights and other areas.

Like Trevis, city officials hailed the demolition as a way to alert gangs that the takeover of private property--abandoned or not--is unacceptable in Los Angeles. A steady pressure on such illegal activities may help stem rampant disregard for the law and improve city neighborhoods, they said. Councilman Richard Alatorre, whose 14th District includes the site, said cooperation among city departments expedited the effort to do something in response to repeated complaints from residents.

Authorities said the building, whose owner was identified by city officials as a company called 2794 Properties, was built in the early 1900s as a single-family home. It was vacant for at least the past several years except for gang members and others who began using it during 1992, officials said.

Authorities said that in November, 1992, there was a fatal shooting outside the house when two members of a rival gang tried to attend a party being thrown by Primera Flats. In October, the house was severely damaged in an arson fire.

It was unclear Monday whether 2794 Properties, which could not be reached for comment, had plans for the site. Whatever the future of the site, several city officials and residents felt a strong sense of accomplishment as the building came down.

Sgt. Rick Faulkner of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollenbeck Division said the demolition of one building can initiate more substantial changes later as residents gain confidence in authorities.

Oscar Gutierrez, 45, co-owner of an apartment building across an alley from the gang haven, said the demolition was necessary. But whether conditions improve in the neighborhood depends, he said, on the city fostering more improvements there.

If things don’t improve, he said, selling his own building may become his only option.

Others definitely weren’t convinced that the demolition would do any good.

“All they’re doing is knocking down a building. Nothing’s going to change,” said Jess Martinez, 21, who has lived across from the building all his life. “To me, this is all fake.”

Alex Ruiz, 18, who watched the demolition, said he and his friends had spent many days and nights “kickin’ it” at the abandoned house. The rooftop often became the spot for late-night talks about plans and dreams, he said.

“They can take away the house, but they can’t take us away from the neighborhood,” said Ruiz, who sported a “Primera” tattoo across his belly along with a vertical scar from an operation to remove a bullet two months ago. “A lot of things happened in there.”