Gang members at center of slaying investigations in San Bernardino, Redlands Inland News PE.com Southern California News News for Inland Southern California
By PAUL LAROCCOThe Press-Enterprise
Gangs were linked Monday to two weekend slayings in Redlands and San Bernardino -- one resulting in murder charges against a teenager and the other triggered by a transient's dog.
Timothy John Vargas Jr., 16, a suspected gang member, was charged as an adult but remained at large after the fatal shooting of a parolee outside his San Bernardino apartment.
Leonard James Scott, 23, was out of prison for less than three weeks when he and another man were struck by shotgun fire on Saturday, prosecutors allege. Scott died at a hospital and Arturo Garcia, 22, was wounded.
The East 18th Street killing was San Bernardino's 14th this year.
A fatal shooting Saturday at Redlands' Jennie Davis Park was that city's first killing in 18 months.
Ricky Dean Davis, 48, was gunned down at 1:30 p.m. after arguing with two documented Rialto gang members. The suspects thought Davis' dog had gotten too close to one of the men's infant son in a stroller, said Redlands police Chief Jim Bueermann.
The suspects, brothers who recently moved to Redlands, are suspected of walking home, dropping off the boy and returning to the park with a shotgun.
"This is the problem with the gang lifestyle," Bueermann said Monday. "That subculture resorting to violence to handle disputes is part and parcel with how they view the world."
Peter Soto, who will turn 21 Wednesday, and Paul Soto, 18, were arrested at their apartment a quarter-mile from the park three hours after the shooting.
The quick arrests were aided in part by an officer who noted their descriptions during a routine patrol of the park before the shootings, Bueermann said. They matched with a witness' account of a man running from the park to the nearby apartment.
Davis was believed to be transient who spent time at the park. The shooting happened less than two hours before a church was to serve meals to the needy there.
"This was really a shock to our volunteers," said Sharon Callon-Schwartz, director of pastoral services for Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church.
The church moved its program to a nearby shelter on Saturday and served the homeless as well as the police officers investigating the killing.
In San Bernardino on Saturday, a police SWAT team surrounded Vargas' apartment near Sepulveda Avenue. The shotgun used to kill Scott was recovered but the suspect was not arrested.
Investigators said it was unclear what the suspect and victims, also suspected gang members, were fighting about.
"Nobody seems to know," said San Bernardino police Lt. Brian Boom.
Scott, who lived a block north of where he was shot, was released from state prison April 14, according to state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records. He had been sentenced to 16 months in prison for a conviction in 2006 for receiving stolen property.
Anyone with information on Vargas' whereabouts is asked to call Detective Mike Vasilis at 909-384-5636 or the department's anonymous tip line at 909-384-5656.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Shooting victim identified - Redlands Daily Facts
Shooting victim identified - Redlands Daily Facts
Jesse B.Gill, Staff Writer
REDLANDS - The 48-year old man shot to death Saturday at Jennie Davis Park has been identified as Ricky Dean Davis of Redlands. Redlands police received a report of the shooting at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses told police investigators that Davis engaged in a verbal confrontation with two men in the park and was shot. According to Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker, Peter Soto, 20 and his brother Paul Soto, 18, both documented West Side Rialto gang members, were arrested Saturday in connection with the shooting, at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday near an apartment building at New York and State Streets, approximately one block from the park. Redlands police also served a search warrant and recovered a gun from the apartment unit where the two men were..
Jesse B.Gill, Staff Writer
REDLANDS - The 48-year old man shot to death Saturday at Jennie Davis Park has been identified as Ricky Dean Davis of Redlands. Redlands police received a report of the shooting at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses told police investigators that Davis engaged in a verbal confrontation with two men in the park and was shot. According to Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker, Peter Soto, 20 and his brother Paul Soto, 18, both documented West Side Rialto gang members, were arrested Saturday in connection with the shooting, at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday near an apartment building at New York and State Streets, approximately one block from the park. Redlands police also served a search warrant and recovered a gun from the apartment unit where the two men were..
Monday, May 5, 2008
2 gang members held in killing - San Bernardino County Sun
2 gang members held in killing - San Bernardino County Sun
REDLANDS - A 48-year-old man is dead and two gang members are in custody following a shooting in a park Saturday afternoon.
Redlands police officers responded to Jennie Davis Park about 1:30 p.m. after getting calls about a shooting, according to a police news release.
Officers found the man dead of gunshot wounds when they arrived.
The name of the man was not released.
Witnesses told officers the man was shot after he got into an argument with two other men who had run south through the park and down New York Street, according to the release.
A Redlands police helicopter assisted in the search. Police set up a perimeter around an apartment complex at New York and State streets. The two men left the apartment around 4:30 p.m. and surrendered without incident, according to the statement.
Peter Soto, 21, and his brother Paul Soto, 18, were arrested on suspicion of murder, according to the release.
The two are known members of a Rialto street gang, said Carl Baker, spokesman for the Police Department.
"I don't believe we had contact with them, but Rialto (police) have," Baker said. "They're in the state system as documented gang members."
After the men surrendered, investigators obtained a search warrant for their apartment and found a gun.
This is the first homicide for Redlands this year, Baker said. The city had no homicides in 2007.
The park where the shooting occurred is usually a safe area, Baker explained. There was an assault a few weeks ago across the street from the park but, "generally there aren't a whole lot of problems in that park."
REDLANDS - A 48-year-old man is dead and two gang members are in custody following a shooting in a park Saturday afternoon.
Redlands police officers responded to Jennie Davis Park about 1:30 p.m. after getting calls about a shooting, according to a police news release.
Officers found the man dead of gunshot wounds when they arrived.
The name of the man was not released.
Witnesses told officers the man was shot after he got into an argument with two other men who had run south through the park and down New York Street, according to the release.
A Redlands police helicopter assisted in the search. Police set up a perimeter around an apartment complex at New York and State streets. The two men left the apartment around 4:30 p.m. and surrendered without incident, according to the statement.
Peter Soto, 21, and his brother Paul Soto, 18, were arrested on suspicion of murder, according to the release.
The two are known members of a Rialto street gang, said Carl Baker, spokesman for the Police Department.
"I don't believe we had contact with them, but Rialto (police) have," Baker said. "They're in the state system as documented gang members."
After the men surrendered, investigators obtained a search warrant for their apartment and found a gun.
This is the first homicide for Redlands this year, Baker said. The city had no homicides in 2007.
The park where the shooting occurred is usually a safe area, Baker explained. There was an assault a few weeks ago across the street from the park but, "generally there aren't a whole lot of problems in that park."
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