PICO-UNION : Police Tie Slayings of 4 to Gang Feud

Police have beefed up patrols after a gang war erupted last weekend, leaving four dead, including a teen-ager.

Among those killed in a 13-hour period that began Jan. 21 were two apparently unconnected victims--a motorist returning from a party and a man in a wheelchair who was mistaken for someone else by gunmen, police said.

A spray-painted challenge to a duel between two long-entrenched gangs is believed to have sparked the shootings.

Homicide detectives believe that both gangs are to blame for the killings. They have interviewed witnesses and followed leads, but so far have not arrested any suspects.

Although there were witnesses to all of the killings, many are afraid to come forward, said Andy Cicoria, a detective with the Rampart Division. In addition, gang members are seldom willing to cooperate with investigators.

“This kind of crime is not easily solved,” Cicoria said. “There are witnesses, but they’re not talking. I feel confident we’ll be able to solve it. However, it will take some time.”

According to Lt. Sergio Robleto, commander of the LAPD’s South Bureau homicide unit, the bloodshed began shortly after noon when several carloads of men drove into rival territory near Normandie Avenue and 23rd Street and began taunting a gang there.

One of the vehicles hit a 28-year-old alleged gang member as he attempted to cross the street. Abel Haro was then beaten and shot to death on the ground in front of several onlookers, Robleto said.

Haro’s gang apparently retaliated at 5:20 p.m., killing 18-year-old Jimmy Rajo in a drive-by shooting near Pico Boulevard and New Hampshire Street, police said.

The violence escalated when a carload of suspected gang members struck Alexander McLellan as he crossed 11th Street near Arapahoe Street in his wheelchair at about 9:40 p.m.

McLellan, 25, tried to crawl away, but witnesses told police the vehicle made a U-turn and a passenger fired about 20 shots at the victim before the car sped away. He died at the scene. McLellan was affiliated with a gang, police said, but not the one that the killers were battling. Investigators believe the gunmen were looking for someone else who matched McLellan’s description.

The fourth shooting took place at 1:30 a.m. Jan. 22 at Pico Boulevard and Fedora Street.

Police said four young people were driving home from a party when they thought they recognized a friend walking down the street and made a U-turn to meet him.

But members of the gang suspected in the wheelchair shooting were loitering nearby and apparently thought the car belonged to their rivals. They opened fire, killing the driver, 17-year-old Mario Gonzales. He was not a gang member, police said.