“It’s the community. If the community is not invested and leave it to police, it probably means that city is heading for dire straits in the future,” Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said. While gang activity can be a deterrent for business growth, Harrington said communities should be honest. “Gangs love to exist in darkness. By denying the problem, you’re walking right into their playbook.”
Linda Bair is afraid to go outside. The garden in her backyard has gone unattended because she fears a stray bullet from one of the neighborhood’s rival Hispanic gangs will find her.
The Latin Kings and the Playboy Surenos have marked their territories all over the neighborhood. Vacant homes, garage doors, and even the roadway bear the gangs’ signs (a golden six-point crown for the Kings, while the Surenos are represented by either a Playboy bunny or the number 13).
David Rivera, 17, and Donovan Ball, 18, two of the three suspects charged recently with attempted murder after the severe beating of 15-year-old Sergio Torres, are believed to have resided in the neighborhood. Rivera, Ball and Ruben Rosales-Mezar, 18, allegedly attacked Torres with a baseball bat June 27. The three suspects are originally from Chicago, and involved in the Latin Kings.
Bair said the gangs moved into her neighborhood last summer. She described them as a “bunch of kids,” but violent nonetheless.
“They’re always having fights out front, armed with knives and guns,” Bair said.
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