Expert Witness
Contact
Shop Street Gangs
Chaz Williams the Bank Robber
Download Gang Articles
Trace Tupac's Murder
Some Gangs Get Sued
Home > All News > 2008 News
Fugitive in 1991 gang slaying found teaching in MexicoArticle Last Updated: 10/03/2008 10:51:35 PM PDT PANORAMA CITY - After 17 years on the run, an ex-gang member suspected of gunning down a Burbank high school student was finally jailed Friday in Mexico - where he was teaching English at a respected university. Rodolfo Gallegos, 33, was arrested Thursday morning at his residence in the city of Celaya, where he was teaching at the Universidad de Guanajuato, Celaya. U.S. and Mexican authorities are negotiating his extradition, a process that could take months or years, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Officials from the university could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Gallegos was 16 and a member of the Blythe Street gang when he killed 16-year-old Anthony Caldera after mistaking Caldera and his friends for rival gang members, according to a statement from the District Attorney's Office. A booking photograph released by Mexican authorities showed a tattoo on Gallegos' arm that read "BST" in old-English lettering. Caldera's family greeted the news. "After so many years, my message to everybody who is a family member of a murder victim is don't ever give up hope," Caldera's father, Kenneth, said in a statement after the arrest. "Have faith and stand strong. The American justice system is the greatest in the world. I never lost faith (in the District Attorney's Office). You told me you wouldn't give up and you didn't." On Aug. 24, 1991, Caldera was in a car with four of his friends, driving home after a party. They dropped off one of the friends and stopped at the intersection of Willis Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard. Another car pulled up next to them. From that car, Gallegos asked them where they were from. And as the group of friends tried to explain they weren't in a gang, Gallegos pulled out a handgun and fired several shots, according to the District Attorney's Office. Caldera and two of his four friends were hit. Caldera died; the others survived. Those who live in a Panorama City neighborhood once terrorized by the Blythe Street gang said a lot has changed since the group's heyday in the 1990s, which came to a close after former City Attorney James Hahn targeted it in 1997 with Los Angeles' first gang injunction. Near the intersection of Willis and Roscoe, a tree bore graffiti, but residents said they rarely hear of any trouble along their street and feel safe walking around, even at night. "Now it's perfect," said Inmar Najarro, 44, who has lived in an apartment complex there for 10 years. "I come (home from work) sometimes maybe 10 p.m., 11 p.m. It's quiet. There are never gunshots." Miguel Mendoza, 27, and his wife were pushing strollers with their two toddlers Friday afternoon. Asked whether he worried about gang violence in his neighborhood, he laughed. "Everything's safer now," the air-conditioning technician said. "LAPD's the real gang here, now. Nobody's gonna mess with them." News Topics | Surenos | Home | Research | History | Blood Gangs | Crip Gangs | People | Gallery | Blog | |