Six gang members arrested in stabbing in Burbank
Six gang members were arrested for their alleged involvement in the stabbing of a 21-year-old Pacoima woman last month in Burbank, officials said.
The group includes four Los Angeles men — Juan Carlos “Pirana” Reyes, 19, Paul “Goofy” Pineda, 34, Christopher “Chris” Castellanos, 18, and Michael Joseph “Lil Bandit” Vaca, 15 — and a Los Angeles woman, Ingrid “Cookie” Quintanilla, 20. They were arrested over the last two weeks on suspicion of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, according to the Los Angeles County Superior Court complaint.
A Las Vegas man, Jesse Pineda, 22, was arrested in Las Vegas in connection with the crimes, said Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn.
They have each been charged with two counts of attempted murder — the second count stemming from a separate shooting that same day — and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
The two victims identified in the complaint are Leanna Alaniz and Doris Mazariegos. It was not immediately clear which of them was stabbed.
On Feb. 9 at about 2 a.m., a Burbank resident called the police after hearing someone screaming outside.
The victim, who had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and body, showed up at a home in the 200 block of Griffith Park Drive pleading for help.
While waiting for the police, the resident tried to stop the woman’s bleeding.
After police and paramedics arrived, the victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment, where she remains in critical condition. While she was initially able to give a statement to police, her injuries are so severe that she’s now unable to talk, Ryburn said.
While details on what motivated the stabbing were not available, the suspects had been passing through Burbank with the victim and they appeared to all know each other, Ryburn said.
The suspects were also tied to a shooting earlier that day in the Rampart area of Los Angeles, Ryburn said.
Details on the shooting were not immediately available.
The suspects are each being held in lieu of $3 million bail and are due in court later this week.
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