Gang Member Held in Fatal Stabbing

A street gang member who allegedly stabbed a sleeping man to death was arrested early Friday after he tried to rob a house in Palmdale, police said.

Nicholas Anthony Real, 21, of Reseda, was captured by the owner of the home in the 38000 block of 9th Street East at 3:50 a.m., said Sgt. Dave Clark of the Palmdale station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

On Monday, Real allegedly stabbed 19-year-old Gilberto Ramirez to death in a Tarzana condominium where both men had been staying, said Det. Rick Swanston of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division.

The men were members of rival Reseda gangs, but their gang affiliation does not appear to be a factor in the killing, Swanston said.

“We had been told there was some bad blood between them, but no one seems to know why,” he said.

Three other people who lived in the condominium, located in the 18600 block of Hatteras Street, heard Real yelling and saw him holding a knife, the detective said. Police obtained a warrant for his arrest Wednesday.

Early Friday morning, Real allegedly broke into the Palmdale home and was chased out by the owner and collared in a nearby parking lot, police said.

As a juvenile, Real was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a 1994 gang attack on two brothers, Swanston said.

Real is being held at the sheriff’s Lancaster jail in lieu of $130,000 bail, officials said.