Results tagged “gang”

The feds will announce shortly new charges against area leaders of the Latin Kings gang, including boss figure Augustin Zambrano. Sayeth the Trib: "The U.S. attorney's office has scheduled a 2 p.m. press conference to announce a racketeering indictment against the gang's hierarchy, mostly from Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. The group sought to enrich themselves through the drug trade and preserved their power through "acts of murder, attempted murder" and other crimes, according to a statement from federal prosecutors." The operation against the Latin Kings, headed up by the ATF, was referred to as "Operation Broken Crown."

In 1989 Juan Johnson, then 19, was arrested for murdering a rival gang member with a two-by-four outside a nightclub in Humboldt Park. He was later convicted and sentenced to a 30-year prison term and served eleven and a half years before he was acquitted in 2004. On Monday, Johnson was awarded $21 million in compensatory damages which is the largest award for wrongful conviction in Chicago history according to Chicago Breaking News.

A third person - this time an adult - has been charged in last month's horrific murder of teenager Alex Arellano. The Sun-Times reports this morning that Alisa Campos, 22, has been charged with a count of first-degree murder. Two others - Jovanny Martinez,15, and Edgar Silva,18 - were previously charged in the crime. According to a report from Chicago Breaking News, Campos is alleged to have been one of the people who beat Arellano with a baseball bat when he refused to acknowledge his attackers' gang affiliation (Latin Kings). Arellano's burned body was found in a gangway the next day.

Chicago Police have arrested Martin Ybarra (pictured right), 20, in connection with last week's gang-related shooting near 87th Street and Exchange Ave. which left three Southeast Side teenagers dead. Ybarra has been charged with three counts of murder and police believe he may have been the one to pull the trigger on the semi-automatic weapon used in the shooting, though officials say they are still seeking others who were involved in the shooting. The shooting followed what residents of the neighborhood called an escalation of violence between gangs over the preceding days. The shooting claimed the lives of three teens: Raheem "Chiko" Washington, 15, Kendrick Pitts, 17, and Johnny Edwards, 13. Family members and friends say Washington and Pitts had previously been involved with gang skirmishes, though according to the Tribune report, it's still unclear if any of the three were actually targets.

Police have confirmed they have determined "people of interests" in connection with yesterday's South Side shooting near the intersection of East 87th Street and South Exchange Avenue that claimed the lives of three teenagers. Chicago Asst. Police Supt. James Jackson credits residents from the neighborhood for providing information, saying, "A lot of it had to do with the community stepping forward." The victims were: