I couldn’t help but notice that my top read blog over the last month is a really quick blog I wrote up on January 31st about the Toonerville gang. A couple days before the 31st, I read an article in the Glendale News-Press about an injunction against the Toonerville gang. While walking through Palmer Park on the 31st, I noticed that the gang had spray painted their gang name on the wall surrounding the basketball court. When I got home, I wrote up that quick blog. When I first posted the blog, I got a couple hits (my blog is not read by many) but over the last week this particular blog has become more popular. So being curious about why my Toonerville gang blog was getting so many hits considering that I mostly blog about music, movies, sports and the economy; I decided to google “Toonerville gang.” (Side comment: another of my gang blogs has also gotten some hits recently.)
This LA Weekly article popped up (“Silver Lake Anxiety Attack: The Rowena Avenue Crime Wave,” Joe Donnelly, February 10, 2009): A spate of brutal robberies has cast a pall to match the gloomy weather and dire economy over the normally chirpy neighborhoods of Silver Lake and Echo Park . . . By early last week, news of the attacks in areas bordered by Sunset and Glendale boulevards to the north and east and Hyperion and Rowena avenues to the west and south had spread through the close-knit community . . . Five assaults occurred between December 30 and January 8, and then five more between January 21 and 31 . . . Were they gang initiations? Is the notorious Toonerville gang, not seen this far south for years, now sending recruits into more gentrified territory, as the pickings get slim north of Riverside Drive? Or are gangs simply resorting to robbery as their main source of income dries up, because, let’s face it, who can afford to buy drugs these days?
My comment: “Pickings get slim north of Riverside Drive?” I think the writer just tossed this sentence in, but I wonder if there is some truth to this statement. Glendale is cracking down on the gang. (I really do think my blog about the Tonnerville gang giving the Glendale the middle finger is a true statement.) Perhaps the Toonerville gang is shifting away from South Glendale and moving further into Los Angeles. Glendale police don’t mess around. My personal opinion is that they’re a bit too aggressive; which probably works well when dealing with gangs, but not so well with law abiding citizens.
I also did a search on the LA Times website and the following popped up (“L.A. gang leader sentenced to death,” Jack Leonard, January 10, 2009): For years, authorities say, [Timothy Joseph] McGhee waged a campaign of terror in the northeastern part of Los Angeles. A shot-caller for a long-entrenched gang, he hunted rivals but sometimes killed indiscriminately, boasting in rap lyrics about the pleasure he felt in taking life. He taunted law enforcement and led a sophisticated ambush that ensnared two Los Angeles Police Department officers in a barrage of gunfire. While locked up, he incited jail riots and assaulted guards . . . On Friday . . . Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry sentenced him to death for the murder of three people . . . Police and prosecutors described McGhee as a thrill killer who was among the most feared members of the Toonerville gang, which was formed in the 1950s and claims as its turf a largely middle class area north of Los Feliz Boulevard between San Fernando Road and the Los Angeles River.
My comment: I actually didn’t realize all this stuff was going down. These two articles connect some dots for me. Recently, I”ve talked to some friends who live in the area outlined by Joe Donnelly. One (lives on the Sunset side) mentioned to me about some robberies and an attempted rape in the area. Another (lives on the Rowena side) mentioned receiving a flier about the situation. All of us living in the Toonerville territory need to be careful out there.
My comment 2: Regarding my previous blog about Palmer Park graffiti, the graffiti was removed long ago.
Final note: It is likely that not all these attacks mentioned in the LA Weekly article are perpetrated by the Toonerville gang.
No comments:
Post a Comment