Latino, Armenian conflict not a new problem, police say.

Amber Willard

GLENDALE -- In less than two months and inside a 10-mile radius, there

have been three murders and one attempted murder as a result of tensions

between Armenian Americans and Latinos. According to the police, it’s

nothing they haven’t seen before.

“Any time you have two ethnic groups squeezed together, you’re bound

to find strife. Look at the East L.A. and Central (Los Angeles) border,”

Burbank Police Lt. Bob Giles said of incidents between Latinos and

African Americans.

In the most recent clash between Armenians and Latinos, a 20-year-old

Latino from Ventura was shot to death Saturday in Hollywood during a

fight with Armenians, Los Angeles Police said. Two men who were with the

victim, Jose Saucedo, were wounded in the fight at a gas station at

Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards.

Last month, another Hollywood shooting left an Armenian American man

dead outside a restaurant, allegedly shot by a Latino gang member. On May

5, a Glendale high school student Raul Aguirre was killed as he

intervened in a fight between Latino and Armenian gang members. Six days

later, an Armenian man was injured when a car of Latino teenagers shot at

him and a group of friends as they stood outside a restaurant.

Although police in Glendale are aware of the most recent shooting,

they do not plan to increase patrols. Officers will remain on alert for

potential problems through the summer, which is when most fights occur

because youths are not in school, Young said.

“Gangs make up a small number in our community,” Young said. “The

tension has been going on for years.”

Almost one-third of Glendale’s 200,000 population is Armenian,

according to the Armenian National Committee. U.S. Census Bureau

statistics show there are about 40,000 Hispanics living in Glendale and

21,000 in Burbank. Burbank has a population of nearly 100,000. There are

about 20,000 Armenians living in Burbank, with about 300,000 throughout

Los Angeles County, according to the Armenian National Committee.