Gang feud prompting drive-by attacks, police say

SAN JUAN - By day, residents fill the streets surrounding San Juan's Mayfield Park.

Cyclists weave idly through empty parking lots. Children in baseball uniforms chase each other after evening practice. Their parents stand nearby exchanging gossip through open car windows.

But a less idyllic traffic moves through these streets once night sets in.

Over the past five months, north San Juan, Pharr and south Edinburg have become ground zero in an ongoing dispute between two rival gangs.

Investigators believe the tensions between the Tri-City Bombers and the Texas Chicano Brotherhood have erupted in a series of drive-by shootings, at least two homicides and even a grenade attack.

The victims in most of these flare-ups have been innocent bystanders. The perpetrators: a string of younger and younger gang members looking to gain status within their groups. And with school out for the summer, police are now worried the violence will only get worse.

"They're trying to move up the ranks and make a name for themselves with violence," San Juan police Chief Juan Gonzalez said. "We've debriefed a lot of the older gang members for information and they're saying that they're even afraid of these young guys. They're so brazen."

No one knows for sure what sparked the recent flare-up between the Bombers - a gang based in the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo area that originated as a break-dancing crew in the 1980s - and the Chicanos - a splinter group now bitterly opposed to their progenitors.

The historic dispute between the two groups peaked in 2003 when a botched drug raid on a Chicano stash house in Edinburg resulted in six deaths and 13 Tri-City Bombers charged with the murders.

Tensions appeared to escalate again in January, investigators said, with the slaying of purported Bomber gang member Ricardo Bocanegra at a San Juan smoke shop.

Three gunmen burst into the business Bocanegra owned with his wife on the 600 block of North "I" Road and opened fire. The attack left Ricardo Bocanegra dead and Jennifer Bocanegra seriously injured.

Findings from the ensuing investigation suggested Ricardo Bocanegra may have been working with some Chicano members, police said. Their deal went sour and a violent tit-for-tat between the two gangs ensued.

Five days later, an unknown individual tossed a live grenade into El Booty Lounge, a Pharr-area nightspot. The ordnance failed to detonate and no injuries were reported, but Hidalgo County sheriff's deputies now suspect several top-level Chicano members were the intended targets.

"We have detected a lot of recent activity between those gangs," Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said. "Not only within their ranks but against each other."

Since then, detectives have linked at least five other incidents of violence in Edinburg, San Juan and Pharr to Bombers and Chicanos seeking retribution for a previous attack.

While most have ended without injuries, those who have fallen in the crossfire have been unaffiliated with either gang. Gunmen hit an 8-year-old boy watching television in April while firing on his home in Pharr, and a 13-year-old in Alamo received critical injuries earlier this month when his home was targeted.

On May 13, the ongoing feud brought fatal results for an Edinburg father. Investigators believe Mario Badillo was visiting a neighbor's home on the 2000 block of Rebecca Drive when it became a Tri-City Bombers target. The 21-year-old sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died later that day. The slaying remains unsolved.

"We've made a lot of progress on this case," said Edinburg police Chief Quirino Muñoz. "But we're still working on it."

The San Juan Police Department has had the most success in closing cases associated with this feud. Investigators have arrested 58 suspected gang members since February, said Gonzalez, the city's police chief.

But their suspects are notable for more than just their brazen attacks.

Two of the three purported Texas Chicano Brotherhood members suspected in the January smoke shop slaying are 19 years old. The suspects in a separate attack last month in which purported Tri-City Bombers hurled Molotov cocktails at a home on the 1400 block of State Avenue are all 21 or younger.

In hopes of averting some of the violence, Gonzalez's department has instituted a summer curfew for minors between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Officers have also begun stepping up night patrols in gang hotspots and working with agencies such as the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to file more serious federal charges when appropriate.

"All of these case we're working - if there's a nexus to a federal crime, we're going to work it," Gonzalez said.

Other police departments have taken similar steps. Edinburg's Chief Muñoz said last week that he is considering launching a specialized gang task force to gather intelligence on repeat offenders in his area.

The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office's gang unit has worked closely with investigators in the most affected areas, even though incidents of drive-by shootings have actually decreased in its jurisdiction.

As Lucy Sanchez arrived with her children Thursday at Mayfield Park for baseball practice, she said those efforts have her feeling safe.

Despite the uptick in violence, she doesn't worry much about her family's day-to-day safety, she said as she leaned against a chain- link fence only blocks away from a home that has been hit at least three times by gang members in the last six months.

"It's true here in San Juan, there are a lot of gang members," she said. "But right now, it looks like they're just hitting each other."