Legal order targets gang in Orange

A violent street gang was targeted Friday with an injunction prohibiting 68 alleged members of the group from assembling in three neighborhoods and a park in Orange.

The preliminary injunction, the fifth issued against gangs in Orange County, was signed by Superior Court Judge Daniel Didier, taking aim at the 150-member gang Orange County Criminals that has been active since 1990, authorities said.

Among those named are 17 juveniles and their parents. Gang members were served June 4, authorities said.

The judge’s order establishes a 1.4-square-mile zone west of the 55 Freeway and north of the 22 Freeway in Orange, in which gang members are not allowed to hang out together, drink or use drugs in public, or wear gang attire. They also must obey a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The area includes Eisenhower Park; a north-south strip along Highland and Tustin streets between Lincoln and Palmyra avenues; and the unattached Parker-La Veta and Hoover-Wilson neighborhoods.

The gang has been a long-standing nuisance, and has terrorized several neighborhoods as it has grown prominent, said Sgt. Dan Adams, a spokesman for the Orange Police Department.

Gang members named in the injunction have been charged with a fatal shooting, a fatal stabbing and four attempted homicides, he said. Police also have attributed dozens of weapons violations, fights, burglaries, and incidents of illegal drug use to those named in the injunction.

“When they get together, that’s when they strategize about gang things, and we want to stop that,” Adams said. Authorities also hope the injunction will encourage more residents to report gang-related crimes.

“This should make residents feel safer, to know that gang members aren’t going to be able to scare, harass or intimidate the neighborhood kids,” Adams said.

Residents of the Highland Street neighborhood welcomed the court order. Jaime Perez, a seven-year resident, said occasional violence over the last two years has made him fear for his family’s safety. “The gangs drive by in cars; sometimes we hear shots, and sometimes the police come and arrest them,” he said. “But we hope that changes and there is more attention paid.”

Orange County, like Los Angeles and San Diego counties, has in recent years used court orders to step up the fight against gangs, in Anaheim, Santa Ana and other areas. Most recently, injunctions against more than 200 alleged members of the San Juan Capistrano-based Varrio Viejo and San Clemente-based Varrio Chico street gangs were made permanent in January.

Critics have attacked gang injunctions for casting too wide a net. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union have argued that injunctions can be so expansive that it is difficult to distinguish who is a gang member and who is not.

Authorities said the gang members named in Friday’s injunction were identified by such factors as personal admission, association with known gang members, commission of crimes on behalf of the gang, attire and tattoos.

--

tony.barboza@latimes.com