Marchers Protest Police Killing of Watts Man

More than 100 protesters, some carrying signs reading, “Stop Police Terror,” marched through the streets of Watts on Saturday to voice their anger over the fatal police shooting of a well-liked man who grew up in the Jordan Downs housing project.

The three-mile march culminated in front of the Southeast Division police station, where protesters lambasted the LAPD for the Nov. 15 death of Darryl “Chubby” Hood, 40, who died at the Watts project after he was shot by two officers.

The police said they feared for their lives because they thought Hood, who was stabbing himself with two steak knives at the time, was about to lunge at them.

One witness to the incident, Jordan Downs resident Clarence Casey, scoffed at the notion that police were in danger. “He was so far away from the police, he would have had to be broad-jumping like Carl Lewis to get to them,” Casey said.

On Saturday, a phalanx of about 35 officers, some in full riot gear, guarded the station as the loud but ultimately peaceful rally reached a crescendo as protesters vented their frustrations, chanting slogans that included “Hey, hey, ho, ho, killer cops have got to go.”

As the crowd’s outcry grew, Deputy Chief J.I. Davis, commander of the LAPD’s South Bureau, and Southeast Capt. George Gascon coolly stood outside listening. Patiently, both promised a full investigation of the incident.

“The most important thing today is there is a dialogue,” said Davis, who promised to continue discussions with march leaders and Hood’s family members at a later date.

Many were not satisfied and demanded that the officers involved be fired and charged with murder. Daude Sherrills, a leader of the march, called for a federal investigation.

Officers Brent Houlihan, 23, and Miguel Perez, 33, had responded to a suicide call when they confronted Hood. He refused their orders to drop the two knives. After shooting a Taser gun at him with no effect, the officers fired a total of 11 gunshots, first striking him in the shoulder and leg. Hood fell to the ground and then rose to his feet. Officers then fired nine more rounds, killing Hood, a father of five.

Houlihan and Perez, who underwent psychological examinations last week, are back on duty, police officials said.

Four members of the Grape Street Crips, the street gang that rules Jordan Downs, said as the march passed through the project that they plan to ambush officers.

“We are taking their threats very seriously,” Davis said. “Jordan Downs has been the most active project this year.”

Shortly before he was gunned down, Hood may have smoked a “suicide joint,” an unpredictable combination of crack and PCP that sometimes deludes the user into thinking his body has been invaded by demons, according to a relative.

“Chubby smoked plain ‘wet daddies’ all the time and it really didn’t affect him,” said Hood’s brother-in-law, “Big” Paul Jones, referring to cigarettes dipped in PCP. “But this time I heard he was smoking a ‘suicide,’ ” he said, adding that it would explain Hood’s strange behavior and self-inflicted stabbing.

Much of the Watts community has been outraged over the death.

Resident Casey, 55, said he had almost talked Hood into handing over the two steak knives when the police showed up.

“I told him, ‘Chub, you got a family, don’t do this to yourself,’ and he stopped, but then he saw the police and he backed away,” Casey said.

Seconds later Hood was hit with the Taser, then shot in the shoulder and leg, Casey said.

“I kept talking to him, but this big bald sergeant told me [to get] . . . out of the way. I turned away and then I heard all these shots. Two hours later at the police station, the same sergeant comes and asks me if I want some pizza like nothing had happened.”

Hood joined the original Crips gang in 1971, but he reportedly wasn’t a hard-core member. Records show he had no adult criminal record. He left the Crips in the mid-1970s and would often try to break up gang fights in Watts, several of his friends and relatives said.

One time he got between gangs from Jordan Downs and Nickerson Gardens and kept a fight from escalating into a shootout, Jones said, adding: “Chubby got right in the middle of things and said, ‘This ain’t worth killing for.’ ”

Relatives said Hood had been severely depressed since the 1990 murder of his cousin and the 1994 cancer death of his older brother. They attribute his frequent PCP use to the depression.

“He had a family that loved him, but he just couldn’t handle the deaths,” said his cousin, Rachelle Smith.

As the march left Jordan Downs, Hood’s lifelong friend “Big” Vince Bradford looked at the sandbox playground, alive with children on monkey bars and slides.

“When we were growing up here, there was so much violence no one ever played here,” said Bradford, his eyes full of emotion. “Then things got better. It would be so sad if things got bad again because of this and the kids didn’t get to play. . . .”