Princeton Sees Gang-Related Violence Surge

Princeton Borough, NJ - A weekend of unusually violent incidents in the borough, including evidence of gang activity and a man being nearly beaten to death in an alleged bias crime, was punctuated yesterday by police locking down the high school over a report of planned gang retribution against a student.

Over the weekend, police broke up a pack of roving youths on Halloween night after an 11-year-old trick-or-treater was robbed of his candy bag. Officers had to call in backup units from two other police agencies to assist them.

Police also arrested two young men in a car allegedly in possession of drugs, a handgun, face masks and a police scanner tuned to the police channel.

Police said the beating incident highlighted an emerging crime issue, besides gang activity, in the borough: the victimization of immigrants.

Police spokesman Lt. Dennis McManimon said borough police are intent on confronting the issues directly and openly. "We're not going to hide from it," he said.

The first incident occurred at 12 a.m. Saturday, McManimon said, when a police officer pulled over a car on University Place and both occupants initially gave fake names.

Driver Michael Bess, 22, of Redding Circle and passenger Malcolm Glover, 24, of Red Oak Row, both in Princeton Township, were detained for hindering apprehension and because Bess was allegedly intoxicated.

Officers then found quantities of heroin and marijuana in the car, a loaded .45-caliber handgun, ski masks and a police scanner broadcasting the borough's main police channel, McManimon said. The handgun had been reported stolen in Bucks County, Pa.

Each faces several drug and weapons charges. McManimon said neither suspect is a known gang member, nor did they claim allegiance to any gang. But he said police had been on a higher alert Friday night into Saturday for a report of possible gang activity in Princeton Township and on Clay Street.-- -- --

About two hours later Saturday morning, two young black men allegedly threatened two Hispanic male residents with two pit bull dogs and verbal gang street slang on John Street.

The fight that followed left one unidentified Hispanic victim, a 29-year-old, unconscious with a brain injury that required emergency surgery Sunday at the University Medical Center at Princeton, McManimon said. The man's 24-year-old companion was not seriously injured.

Police arrested Adrian McPherson, 19, of Clay Street, Princeton Borough, shortly after the incident on charges of aggravated assault and bias intimidation. James J. Kornegay, 20, of Leigh Avenue, Princeton Township, was arrested yesterday on the same charges, McManimon said.

"We feel strongly that race was involved in the attack," McManimon said. He said the department has information that Hispanic residents have been targeted in the past for the same reasons they are often victims in other cities with immigrant populations: the perception that many are illegal aliens and will not call local police.

"(The suspects) are preying on people they know will not report it," McManimon said.

A witness also said McPherson and Kornegay shouted terms know to be used by gangs, McManimon said.-- -- --

About 8 p.m. Sunday, police went to the Bayard Lane and Hodge Road area after a report of an unruly group of youths there, McManimon said.

What the officers encountered was a growing mob of nearly 50 youths who began flashing gang hand signs at police officers and shouting out gang calls.

McManimon said one thing officers heard is a well-known Bloods street gang shout known as "rolling Bs," a repeated, onomatopoeic sound in which the person makes a vibrating noise, apparently to imitate the firing of a machine gun.

Borough police called officers from Princeton Township and Princeton University - 21 in all - to quell the youths.

As the mob dispersed, a parent pointed out to police a teen who had allegedly knocked down an 11-year-old Plainsboro boy on Paul Robeson Place and took his candy a short time earlier.

The suspect, a 16-year-old Princeton Township resident, was charged with robbery, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

McManimon said the pack of youths apparently committed other crimes that went unreported. Any parent's child who may have been victimized is urged to call Detective Sgt. Nicholas Sutter at (609) 921-8108.-- -- --

Yesterday, McManimon said, police from another town called borough officers with a tip that a Princeton Regional High School student had disrespected a Crips gang member and that the Crips may be coming to the school for "retribution," McManimon said.

Six officers went to the school, advised officials there, and identified the student who was the possible target. After talking to him, they removed him and a second student for their own safety, McManimon said.

A school district spokesman said students were not allowed to leave the high school during a half-hour period when they normally would be permitted to walk the school's property after lunch.

"The period of about 12:40 to 1:10 p.m., a break period, we had the kids stay within the building," said spokesman Jeff Graber.

He also said the police presence at the school did not affect classes or the students' learning environment.

Officers also will be at the school today, and school administrators then will proceed on a day-to-day basis, Graber said. Students will not be permitted outside the school during the half-hour break today.

"The message to our parents and our students is that we are working closely with police, and we will maintain a safe and secure high school," Graber said.

Principal Gary Snyder would not comment further on the situation yesterday.

School board President Anne Burns was confident that borough police and the school administration were taking all precautions to ensure students' safety.

"We're following the advice of our borough police," Burns said. She said she doubted there was evidence of gang activity. "Police aren't even sure there was gang involvement. I'm not even convinced this is a gang issue. That's still to be seen."-- -- --

But McManimon was clear yesterday. He said he believes, based on information the department has received, that the late-September funeral of a 19-year-old Princeton man who was killed in an apparent gang shooting in Trenton has had an emboldening effect on youths in Princeton.

The funeral for Jean Mario Israel, a Bloods gang member from Lytle Street who went by the street name "Taliban" in Trenton, drew a number of gang members to the First Baptist Church at John Street and Paul Robeson.

Police were there too and, at the request of the church, waved metal detectors over those attending, many clad in cherry red clothing, the Bloods trademark color. Two busloads of students and teachers from Princeton High School, where Israel was a former student, also attended the service.

McManimon said he believes Princeton youths were enamored with the gang presence at the funeral but are unaware of the dangers posed by other gang members in areas with documented members, particularly in Trenton and New Brunswick.

"I don't think they're aware of the ramifications (of their behavior)," McManimon said.

"Real gang members," McManimon said, will not respect the perceived safety of the Princeton boundary. Any youth who doesn't believe that, he said, "They're mistaken."

 

they just had to throw pitbulls in there did'nt they:mad:

 

Gangbangers love pitbulls since they can be taught to be very aggressive towards other gang signs other than there own, its sick and pathetic.