Caught Red-Handed

Gang tags are an increasingly annoying problem on my little block of Natoma St. A group of kids down the street has come of age, and was recruited by a local Norteno to "bring back" Natoma. They've been tagging up the block, I've been removing the tags, and our game has gone on for the better part of a year. Recently, the Sureno gang has been tagging up the block trying to start a confrontation with the Norteno kids. It's been a source of concern for me, as I don't want a gang war flaring up on my block.

I had been meaning to get my supplies out for the last week and clean up several non-gang tags at the end of Natoma at 15th St. Yesterday I pulled out my rig and started cleaning up a tag on my neighbor's building. My other neighbor Rex came by to help, and as we talked I noticed two kids in blue walking up the street towards us. One of them bent down and spray painted something on the sidewalk. I was incredulous...

"Did he really just spray a tag right in front of us, in broad daylight?" I asked Rex.

The pair walked between Rex and I, threatened and sneered at Rex, then walked towards 14th St. We looked at each other and both dialed the police, then started following the pair as they walked Westbound on 14th. They stopped in front of another building and tagged it...again, in broad daylight, with several people watching. The pair noticed us following, then fled across Mission St, into the entrance ot The Armory. Rex and I waited across the street, still on the phone with police dispatch. A 14 Mission bus arrived, and the pair threw their spray can under it, boarded the bus, and tried to flee. Rex held the bus up a bit, and the police soon showed up. We pointed out the now-moving bus, and the police stopped it at the next intersection and puled the kids off the bus. We walked up, identified the taggers, and watched them get arrested.

Returning to Natoma St, we noticed that they had tagged several garages and residences on the street...with Sureno tags. That many tags adds up to felony charges for those two, and Rex and I were credited with a citizens arrest. We gave our statement, and found out that one of the kids had been taunting one of the responding officers in court just a few days earlier. Karma's a bitch, eh?