Hearing on Injunction Against Gang Delayed

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Tuesday delayed a hearing on a proposed injunction to curb the activities of one branch of the sprawling 18th Street gang, accused of terrorizing and intimidating residents in a neighborhood east of Culver City.

Seventeen of the 18 alleged gang members named in a Los Angeles city attorney’s office complaint appeared in court under heightened security that included a metal detector. The injunction, which targets an area in which a series of shootings has occurred in the past month, would ban the reputed gang members from congregating in public, harassing residents or even using vulgar language.

Judge Alan Buckner granted a delay until May 7 to allow an attorney for some of the defendants to prepare a defense. Buckner also encouraged other defendants to retain attorneys, noting there were serious constitutional issues at stake. Later, attorney Sean Ward denied that his four clients were gang members. Several other defendants admitted they were members of 18th Street, but denied terrorizing their neighborhood. They claim that they have been unfairly singled out by law enforcement.

“They’re going against our constitutional rights,” said Richard “Danger” Jimenez, 18, a second-generation 18th Street member. “My Dad’s in 18 too. That means I can’t hang out with him.”

With an estimated membership of up to 20,000 in Southern California alone, 18th Street is the region’s largest street gang, with branches spreading across local, state and even international jurisdictional lines. The gang’s rise was profiled in a recent Times series of articles.