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Nine arrested for gang participation
After months of investigating gang graffiti in central Springfield, police have charged nine males, including five middle schoolers, with gang-related activities, including gang graffiti and gang recruitment.
The five students, all between 12-years-old and 14-years-old, attend Mark Twain Middle School in Alexandria.
Between Dec. 2 and Dec. 5, several walls and trailers outside Lee High School were sprayed with messages, “immediately recognizable” as gang related, said Fairfax County police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell.
Tarin Najmi, 28, of Springfield; Harold Guanilo, 21, of Alexandria; Carlos Perea, 22, of Arlington; and a 17-year-old Arlington male were arrested for the incident and charged with felony destruction of property and gang participation. Information on the remaining suspects has not been released by police.
Three middle school students, two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old, were charged with gang participation and gang recruitment for activities which occurred within the school during the week of March 10. Police also arrested two boys, ages 12-years-old and 13-years-old and charged them with destruction of a public building after graffiti was found written on bathroom walls with markers.
According to the search warrant affidavit filed in Fairfax County Circuit Court, one of the students “was actively recruiting other students at Mark Twain Middle School to join 'South Side Locos' between the months of November and December 2007,” the affidavit said.
It was during that period that the suspect allegedly recruited four identified students, “as well as other unidentified students,” the affidavit said.
The suspect explained to police in an interview that in order to become a member of the gang, students “had to be 'jumped in' for a period of 10-15 seconds,” meaning that the students were beaten for that amount of time, must remain quiet and could not hit back, afterwards becoming members of the gang.
Students were allegedly told to wear only black and gray clothing, were instructed on how to use hand signs, the affidavit said.
The student also allegedly collected money, or “dues” from other gang members and held meetings in the school bathroom during school hours, the search warrant said.
According to the Fairfax County Student Responsibilities and Rights booklet, any student found guilty of hazing or inflicting bodily injury on a student as part of an initiation is punishable by a mandatory suspension from school, with a recommendation going to the school board that the student be expelled.
As far as gang activity and destruction of school property, the fate of the student lies in the hands of the principal of the school, who, depending on the incident, may be required to make a report to police.
Fairfax County Public Schools did not send information to parents regarding the March 10 incident at Mark Twain, said spokesman Paul Regnier.
“The incidents that occurred are very regrettable, but they do happen occasionally,” Regnier said. “There are some gang members in our schools, but we do not tolerate any gang activity whatsoever.”
Police increased their investigations into gang activity in Springfield after an alleged gang member was shot and killed in the early morning of Dec. 1 outside the Springfield Mall restaurant and nightclub, Cerra Grande.
After the shooting incident, gang graffiti from from gangs South Side Locos and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) began spreading in the area.
Between July and October 2007, there were 11 reported cases of graffiti in Springfield. That number increased to 22 cases from October to December.
Concerns were raised over the rise of graffiti cases, since sometimes it may mean that rival gang members are trying to communicate and that an “event” between gangs may occur, said Lt. Dan Janickey, assistant commander of the Franconia District Station.
Police investigations into the other graffiti incidents is ongoing, police said.
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