CHARGES FILED AGAINST ANAHEIM GANG MEMBER FOR VIOLATING GANG INJUNCTION TERMS

CHARGES FILED AGAINST ANAHEIM GANG MEMBER FOR VIOLATING GANG INJUNCTION TERMS  

FULLERTON – Charges were filed today against a 19-year-old gang member for being in possession of an illegal handmade knife and violating terms of the Anaheim gang injunction signed last November.  Alberto Lazaro, Tustin, is charged with possession of a deadly weapon, street terrorism, three counts of gang related disobeying a court order, and an enhancement for criminal street gang activity.  If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 9 years and 8 months in prison.  He is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, February 2, 2007 at 8:00 a.m. in Department N-12, North Justice Center, Fullerton.

Lazaro is the 11th adult to face charges stemming from the Anaheim gang injunction.  The injunction named 77 gang member defendants and enjoined them from participating in specified gang activities within a 1.63 square mile Safety Zone in the Wakefield/Leatrice neighborhood. 

On January 14, 2007, Lazaro is accused of being in possession of a deadly weapon, a hand made glass shank that was approximately three inches long and filed down to a point at one end to form a knife.  He is accused of being in the Safety Zone wearing gang attire, associating with another gang member named in the injunction, and promoting his gang.

This civil suit in Anaheim was signed on November 17, 2006, and was the second to be filed in Orange County against a criminal street gang. In the 35 days following the signing of the preliminary injunction, the Safety Zone had a 50 percent decrease in gang related calls for police service compared to the 35 days prior to the injunction.  During that time, the total number of calls for police service decreased by 23 percent, and the number of stolen vehicles dropped from 17 to two, a decrease of 89 percent.   

Deputy District Attorney John Maxfield of the TARGET Unit is prosecuting this case. 

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