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• May 15, 2008 7:52 pm US/Pacific
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  13 Accused San Jose Gang Members Indicted

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13 Accused San Jose Gang Members Indicted

 CBS 5 CrimeWatch

SAN JOSE (BCN) ― Seven members of an alleged violent street gang were arrested Wednesday and 13 alleged gang members were indicted on Tuesday as part of an ongoing crackdown on gang activity, San Jose police announced Thursday.
 
More than 90 police officers were involved in the Wednesday arrests that took place in various locations throughout San Jose. The seven arrested and 13 indicted by a Santa Clara County grand jury are all alleged to be members of the El Hoyo Palmas gang, part of the Norteno gang.

Rob Davis, San Jose police chief, said these arrests and the indictments are the culmination of a multi-department 17-month-long investigation.

They are just the beginning of what he termed as a "proactive" approach to ridding the city of any crime, particularly gang activity.

"We do not intend to be reactive to gang crime," Davis said. "No level of crime is acceptable. We will be proactive in gang crime, not reactive."

The Norteno gang is allegedly responsible for multiple homicides and other gang-related crime in San Jose, but police said their focus is on all gangs including the rival Sureno gangs. The arrests and indictments this week were allegedly linked to the Norteno gang.

"We're talking about one gang. We're not done," Davis said.

Charges against the gang members include murder, attempted murder,
conspiracy to commit murder, witness intimidation, and other related crimes.

The homicide cases that El Hoyo Palmas, also known by the moniker EHP, is linked to include the murder of Luis Rey Medina, 19, in December, 2006, and the 2007 murders of Rigoberto Gonzalez, 22, Edgar Martinez, 15, and Hernan Koba, 33, all of San Jose.

The seven arrested are Gene Sanchez, Pedro Cuascut, Jose Garcia, Robert Cruz, Martin Urena, Issac Flores, and a 17-year-old juvenile male, according to police.

EHP is a generational gang that has been in place for 30 or more years, meaning one generation teaches and culturally integrates its children in to the gang, perpetuating gang crime, police said.

Photos of a grandfather wearing gang attire and colors holding a grandchild also wearing representative gang bandanas, as described by Davis were offered as an example of what is believed to be a fifth generational gang.

San Jose saw a spike of gang-related activity in September and Davis said there has been a slight decline since then, but he added that he wanted to make clear that the arrests and indictments handed down this week are in no way the end of a chapter.

"We're sending a message. If you're going to participate in criminal gang activity, we're coming after you," said Lt. Rikki Goede, head of the Gang Investigation Unit.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)