THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 15, 1996 TAG: 9607150051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: 66 lines
A stabbing outside an Alexandria summer school that killed 16-year-old Romulo Eric Ardila is just the latest sign of increasing gang activity in Northern Virginia, officials said.
The July 3 slaying was the third since February that police attributed to Northern Virginia youth gangs.
``These groups are still growing,'' said Fairfax police Lt. Michael George. ``Some jurisdictions refuse to admit they have gangs, but it's like cancer. Denial is not going to make it go away.''
Until recently, suburban police officials said, there were no gangs in the Washington area outside the District, just youths who hung out on street corners and talked tough. But now law enforcement officials acknowledge that gang-related violence is on the rise in Northern Virginia.
Fairfax County juvenile court officials, who have compiled some of the most comprehensive information on the subject, believe there are about 50 youth gangs with an estimated 1,000 members in Northern Virginia. Officials said the list consists of gangs that regularly commit crimes such as theft and assault.
But police said the Northern Virginia estimate is conservative, because many suburban gangs have fringe participants who can double a group's size during a fight.
Police believe that gangs are helping drive the surge in reported juvenile crimes. The number of juveniles charged with violent felonies nearly doubled last year in Prince William County, from 49 to 93. In Fairfax County, 69 juveniles were arrested for robbery last year, up from 22 in 1993, and 735 juveniles were charged with larceny, up from 532.
Gang members who get involved in crime start with relatively minor offenses: painting graffiti, stealing and fighting with fists and sticks, police and gang members say. However, unwilling to back down in front of their buddies, some shift to more serious crimes and battles of honor with knives and guns.
``At first, we didn't go looking for trouble. But everything starts escalating,'' said a former member of the Puros Latinos gang in Falls Church. ``Friday nights, we'd just go looking for (rival gangs), to mess them up. We'd ride 30 deep, car after car after car.''
Most gang members are Asian and Latino youths looking for thrills and social status, police and juvenile officials say. As younger children join gangs and become more aggressive, police say, their fights have drawn more attention because they have spilled into public places and become more violent.
Some Latinos say gangs provide them with a sense of belonging in an alien country, because most of the youths are immigrants or the children of immigrants.
The gangs also promise safety in numbers and a way to rebel against strict parental control, members said. ``It's a way to get away from your problems,'' said a 14-year-old who helped start the Latin Homies gang and did not want to be identified.
Ardila's slaying has deeply alarmed Northern Virginia public officials and parents, who say it shows that apparently ordinary teenagers can end up dead or in jail if they get involved with gangs.
Both Ardila, and the 16-year-old accused of killing him, Jimmy Hernandez, were relative newcomers to gangs.
``These literally could have been any of hundreds of kids,'' said Gerald W. Jackson, a Fairfax probation officer, who said 60 percent of the 45 youths he is working with have gang connections. ``I don't think they really meant to kill someone. Now these mothers have nothing.''
KEYWORDS: TEENAGER GANGS VIRGINIA by CNB