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For those of you who haven’t been reading the comments, Freeman Klopott writes:

A Montgomery County-based MS-13 gang member and illegal immigrant who allegedly stabbed a man almost to death after being released on bond following an earlier attack is now in custody in Prince William County, where his immigration status may complicate his extradition.

Milton Calderon-Melendez, 25, of El Salvador, is awaiting extradition from Prince William to Montgomery to face charges of assault and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Meanwhile, as Prince William’s policy dictates, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have already been informed of his illegal presence in the U.S.

The “earlier attack” referred to occurred near Odend’hal and Lost Knife — I imagine at the Lakeforest Transit Center — Calderon-Melendez is accused of punching a 15-year-old in the face, and was charged with 2nd degree assault. For those of you who think that the police tell us everything that goes on in their crime summaries, I have scoured my Gaithersblog postings from that time, as well as re-reading the police crime reports. I’ve not been able to find any previous mention of this incident. If anyone can find a contemporaneous record, please let me know.

On Aug. 20, he and Jose Gagoberto Flores Cardova allegedly assaulted Cardova’s roommate, known only as Salguero in court documents, in their 8200 Iron Clad Court apartment in Gaithersburg.

According to police, Cardova beat Salguero in the head with a baseball bat and Calderon-Melendez stabbed him in the sternum with a knife. Police found the bloody bat and a broken knife in the house after the two had already fled.

I did find a reference to this incident in the MCPD crime summaries. It says:

An aggravated assault occurred the Monday 8/20, time unknown in the 8200 block of Ironclad Court.

Keep this in mind the next time you see the words “aggravated assault”. Just for reference, the charges filed in that incident were attempted 2nd degree murder, 1st degree assault and conspiracy to commit 1st degree assault, 2nd degree assault and conspiracy to commit 2nd degree assault.

Now, a major point of the Examiner article is that Calderon-Melendez was here illegally, and if Montgomery County were more aggressive about checking immigration status in these cases, the second assault may never have happened. I don’t disagree with this point. However, I think that it is something of a distraction from the real problem, which is the extent to which people charged with crimes like this are routinely walking out of jail with a pittance for bond. In this one case perhaps the immigration issue could have forced the Court’s hand and kept them from letting Calderon-Melendez go. But citizen criminals are spinning around in this same revolving door on a daily basis, and people continue to be hurt because of it. In my mind, this is at least as much a criminal justice issue as an immigration issue..

Liz Farmer writes in the Maryland Daily Record: As gang-related crime increases, the county prosecutor’s office increases its manpower — and its caseload:

On Halloween night in Rockville, a Safeway cashier was shot in the leg by a group of assailants. A week later, a stabbing assault at a Gaithersburg mall was followed by a fatal stabbing at a nearby bus stop.

Then, five men stabbed and seriously wounded a Gaithersburg man in what authorities described as a retaliatory strike. And the following week, two teens were shot outside the Shady Grove Metro station.

The Gang Prosecution Unit, made possible through state and local funding, handles not just gang violence but all cases where a known gang member has been charged with a crime. The unit handled nearly 400 cases this year, ranging from disorderly conduct to assault to homicide.

According to the Office of the State’s Attorney, today there are about 40 active gangs in Montgomery County and 1,150 members. Approximately 3,600 gang members have been identified in the D.C. metropolitan area.

By comparison, Prince George’s County has about 50 gangs with more than 400 members, and Baltimore City has about 170 known street gangs with about 1,300 members, according to state statistics.

Ernesto Londoño and Candace Rondeaux write in a front-page article in today’s Washington Post:

The Bloods and the Crips street gangs, notorious for ruthless violence since they emerged four decades ago in Los Angeles, have become increasingly influential in some of Washington’s Maryland suburbs as the gangs recruit in jails and prisons and as small neighborhood crews adopt their names and creeds, authorities say.

A series of attacks last month highlighted the changing role of the gangs in upper Montgomery County. Law enforcement officials attribute the violence, including a fatal stabbing at a bus station in Gaithersburg and shootings at a crowded grocery store in Rockville and outside the Shady Grove Metro station, to feuding between groups that identify themselves as Bloods and Crips.

“When you go to jail, you’ve got to pick a team,” said Wes Daily, executive director of the East Coast Gang Investigators Association. “Once you get into that prison system and you get involved in the niche, you become more illiterate and more unemployable; the only thing you can do is run with your clique. The same thing applies once you’re back on the streets.”

Daily said that Bloods and Crips are now more visible, more violent and more organized on the East Coast than at any other time in the gangs’ nearly 40-year history. “These guys have really stepped it up a notch,” he said. “With the activity that you’re seeing in Maryland, the simple issue is who just got out of jail, who is moving into the community and who’s taking over the block.”

Candace Rondeaux writes, Police Step Up Patrols to Combat Gangs:

The first of the stabbings occurred Nov. 5 about 3:30 p.m. in the Wendy’s restaurant in the Off-Price Shopping Center on Lost Knife Road in Gaithersburg. A 19-year-old Germantown man was stabbed in the hand, police said.

Michael A. Walker, 18, was charged with first-degree assault. Walker, who police said has no fixed address, was being held yesterday in the county jail on $75,000 bond.

About three hours later, in an attack that police said was related, Robert T. Jackson, 21, of Germantown was fatally stabbed as he stood at a bus station in the 9600 block of Lost Knife Road.
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Police said Ronald Antoine, 16, of the 400 block of North Summit Avenue in Gaithersburg, was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the stabbing. Antoine, who was charged as an adult, was being held without bond yesterday at the Montgomery Detention Center.

Michael Tunison writes, Two Arrested in Montgomery Metro Stop Shooting

Montgomery County police said today that two teenagers have been arrested in a shooting Monday night near the Shady Grove Metro bus stop, one of several recent episodes of what police say is gang-related violence.

John Hollis Reynolds, 18, of the 14900 block of Coles Chance Road in Gaithersburg, and Phillip Kang, 17, were each charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and other crimes. They were being held without bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center.

From the Department of Justice website:

Greenbelt, Maryland - William A. Mendez, age 21, also known as “Pitufo,” of Gaithersburg, pleaded guilty today to committing a violent crime in aid of the racketeering activities of an MS-13 gang, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division.

According to his plea agreement, La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, is a gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador, with members operating throughout Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, Maryland, and elsewhere. MS-13 is a national and international criminal organization with approximately 10,000 members.

MS-13 is organized in “cliques,” including the Fulton Locos Salvatruchos (FLS), the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside, the Teclas Locos Salvatruchos and the Langley Park Salvatruchos. Mendez was a member of the FLS clique. The MS-13 cliques work together cooperatively to commit acts of violence.

On December 30, 2005, Mendez and two others associated with MS-13 knocked on the door of an apartment on Duvall Lane in Gaithersburg, Maryland. When the occupants opened the door, Mendez brandished a handgun and announced a robbery. During the course of the robbery, one of the occupants stated to Mendez that he did not believe that the handgun was real. Mendez then shot that individual once, striking him in the neck. Mendez and his accomplices proceeded to rob the occupants of approximately $3,000 in currency, assorted jewelry and cell phones. The robbery and assault were part of an ongoing effort by MS-13 to rob and extort individuals and businesses in the community, and were committed to maintain or increase Mendez’s position within his clique and the overall MS-13 enterprise.

Mendez faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow scheduled sentencing for January 4, 2008 at 1:00 p.m.

To date, this office has charged 47 MS-13 gang members with various federal offenses; 17 gang members have been convicted at trial or pled guilty to RICO charges and 12 have pleaded guilty to other charges, mostly immigration or gun violations.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the Montgomery County Police Department for their investigative work in this case. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Chan Park and Trial Attorney David Jaffe, a prosecutor for the Justice Department’s Gang Squad, who are prosecuting the case.

Mocoprogressive has posted a scan of the (fascinating) Gang Reference Card that the Montgomery County Police included in their annual report, which can be found in the print edition of this week’s Gazette. In case you thought it was all just MS-13.

Jaime Ciavarra has two reports on gangs in today’s Gazette.

For first time, data on who’s at risk for gangs:

The survey, analyzed by research students at The George Washington University, assessed the teens’ socioeconomic status, perception of safety, peer pressure and family and school connections.

Funded by a $22,000 Montgomery County Empowerment Grant, the survey results will be shared with school and police officials, and will help guide programming at area nonprofits.

Gangs are a growing concern in Montgomery County, a region that in the past two decades has been met with the violence and crime often associated with these organized groups.

In September, county police reported 28 gangs operating around the county with 930 documented members. Over the past year, crime attributed to gang members has increased at a steady and alarming rate, police report.

Most recently in Gaithersburg, a 17-year-old was stabbed in the abdomen and severely wounded in a fight between the Bloods, a typically black gang, and MS-13, a traditionally Latino gang, in a neighborhood near Gaithersburg High School last month.

Most of the teens involved were students at the school, police said.

The survey was done by Identity, a Gaithersburg-based nonprofit that serves Latino youths and their families.

Youth who felt less connected to their families or who felt disliked by their peers were significantly more likely to join a gang, according to the results.

Nearly half of the youth surveyed said they spent the hours after school unsupervised and nearly half said they felt lonely more than one day a week.

And 17 percent said they did not feel that family members listened to them.

‘‘Family needs to show them love and interest. If they don’t, gangs will,” said Sergio, a former gang member who counsels youth through the Identity program. ‘‘Love is what starts the flame.” Given his prior gang involvement, The Gazette is not identifying Sergio’s by his last name.

Ms Ciavarra also reports, Former gang leader warns kids of ‘dark side’

At age 7, Sergio had gang members in Los Angeles buying him clothes, shoes and ice cream.

By 13, he had ‘‘jumped into” the gang MS-13 and began pushing drugs and carrying guns.

After nearly two decades of living on the streets and behind bars, Sergio, now 27, has reformed.

He has gotten his GED and a new job at a Gaithersburg nonprofit. He is getting a gang-related tattoo — a daily reminder of where he once belonged — removed.

And he is beginning to steer other youth away from the lifestyle.

Dena Levitz writes in today’s DC Examiner:

By focusing so heavily on the Hispanic MS-13 gang, Montgomery County Police are glossing over a much more dangerous and steadily increasing group, the Bloods, one of the nation’s experts on gangs told The Examiner.

Det. Patrick Word, the lead gang officer for the Gaithersburg Police Department and president of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Investigators Network, said this week that information presented to the public at a summer news conference was at least six months old and does not tell an accurate tale of the gang situation regionally.

Sgt. Chuck Welch, who is in charge of Montgomery County’s gang task force, acknowledged that the Bloods are on the rise countywide, with an increasing number of neighborhood gangs modeling themselves after the infamous gang and citizens joining the ranks while in prison. However, he said the strategy in Montgomery County, at least at present, is not to go after Bloods in a targeted fashion.

Data collected by MARGIN six months ago credited the Bloods with having 400 members in the region, but Word said that number has since more than doubled to 860. And what’s worse is that this is a gang known for committing more serious crimes.

“They’re into violence, robbery, extortion, prostitution, auto theft, everything else but drugs,” Word explained.

As reported on the New MoCo Progressive, Gaithersburg High School Principal Darryl L. Williams has sent home a letter to parents, discussing the recent rash of violent incidents at Gaithersburg High School:

November 10, 2006

Dear Parents,

I want to share with you information about three events that have occurred this week. I am sending you this letter to give you the facts and to assure you that we are addressing all incidents.

As the news media have reported, a GHS student was violently attacked last Friday afternoon, November 6, 2006 in the neighborhood after school. The student is recovering at home. The GHS administration, police, and community leaders are working together to address issues of violence and gang activity in the community.

The second incident occurred while a female student was walking to school on Thursday, November 9. She was approached by an unknown adult male in an automobile. He attempted to engage the student in conversation and exposed himself. The student reported the incident this morning to the school administration, and the authorities were notified. The Montgomery County Police are continuing their investigation. Please continue to speak with your son/daughter about the importance of safety in parking lots, walking paths, and bus stops, and emphasize the need to report unsafe events to authorities immediately.

The third incident occurred during the overnight hours last night. Four cars from the auto technology program were destroyed by fire. The Fire Department and Montgomery County Police are investigating the incident as a possible arson.

While these events concern us all, there have been no interruptions to our school day. I want to assure you that GHS administration, security and school staff are committed to maintaining a safe environment for all students and staff. If you have further questions, please call the school at 301-840-4700.

Sincerely,

Darryl L. Williams
Principal
Gaithersburg High School

MoCo has some thoughts about all this.

• Teen stabbed in gang fight near Gaithersburg High School, by Jaime Ciavarra
  

  Cpl. Sonia Pruitt, a spokeswoman for county police, said officers are trying to determine if the fight was between members of MS-13, a traditionally Hispanic street gang, and the Bloods, a typically black gang.

  A suspect in the stabbing has been named, but police believe it is a Hispanic teen, Wagner said.

  Last week’s stabbing is the second violent incident in the city in the past few months related to gangs. It has drawn concern from some residents and city officials.

  Two Gaithersburg men — allegedly members of MS-13 — were charged in October with attempted murder for stabbing a man near North Frederick Avenue, police say.

  And other gang-related crime in Gaithersburg, such as property thefts and burglaries, are on the rise, said Det. Patrick Word of Gaithersburg police, the city’s gang expert.

  He partly attributes the spike to gang members who have returned to city streets after being incarcerated.

  Does this mean that they recently emptied out the prison?

• Soldier was killed by his roommate, police say, by Jaime Ciavarra
  

  District Court Judge Barry Hamilton ruled that Smith was not a flight risk and set bond at $250,000 provided he stayed with his parents in Rockville. Smith posted bond and was released Saturday.

  McQueen’s father called the bond decision ‘‘unfair.”

  ‘‘I can’t recall, in 30 years of covering trials, a person being released on bond in first-degree murder,” Michael McQueen, bureau chief of the Associated Press in New Orleans, said by phone Monday.

  McQueen and his wife learned of Smith’s arrest shortly after it happened Thursday. They did not have time to fly to Maryland to be at Friday’s hearing, and he said his absence was likely noticeable.

  Several supporters of Smith came to the hearing, and a friend of the family spoke.

  ‘‘We had no opportunity to respond to this in any way, shape or form,” McQueen said.

  See my previous post for more on this story.

• Suspect confesses to stabbing at Lakeforest, police report, by Chris Robinson
  

  A Germantown man confessed to police that he planned and executed the murder last week of a woman he worked with at J.C. Penney’s in Lakeforest Mall, according to police charging documents.

  His motive is not clear.

  Police on Friday charged Josue Ray Dupree, 20, of Stevenson Drive, with the first-degree murder for the death of Ana Elisa Mejia Avila, 35, also of Germantown. He currently is being held without bond at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg.

  See my previous post for more on this story.