Ivan Alquicira, Avenues Gangster, Bringing Hate Crime Back to Northeast L.A?
Are the notorious brown-on-black hate crimes of the Avenues Gang back?
Avenues.
In the mid-'00s the Northeast Los Angeles set was known for targeting African Americans for harassment, assaults and, worse, even murder.
Now cops say a gangster in the Avenues' turf threatened an African American family of three as it walked down the street in Glassell Park this week:
Ivan Alquicira, 19, is accused of shouting racial epithets from an apartment balcony before training his long gun at three black folks walking down the street.
This week the District Attorney's office charged him with assault with a deadly weapon, with an enhancement of a hate crime, police told the Weekly.
Det. Rick Ortiz tells us:
He made some derogatory statements to three African Americans, a boyfriend-girlfriend and a child. They were like, 'What!?,' and he pulled a shotgun out.
This all happened Monday starting at 5:30 p.m. in the 3100 block of Estara Avenue, he said.
Alquicira didn't shoot, but his alleged actions brought the cavalry to Glassell Park.
And when cops arrived, Ortiz says, Alquicira did not open the door to his home: A near two-hour standoff ensued.
After SWAT team members arrived and set up, he surrendered, the detective said. Records indicate that Alquicira was arrested at 7:20 p.m. that night.
By the way, Ortiz didn't want to name the suspect's gang, for fear of glorifying it. But the turf and the alleged hatred tell the story.
In 2006 a handful of Avenues members were convicted on federal hate crime charges after a string of attacks on African Americans and a clear attempt to push them out of their neighborhood.
According to sheriff's inmate information data, Alquicira's bail was set at more than half a million dollars.
[First spotted at The Eastsider LA].
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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