It's to bad you (Sprint34) are commenting about an investigation without getting your facts straight...............
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An Assassination in Silver Lake
Did a middle-class tagger murder a working-class El Chavo busboy?
The windy backstreets of Silver Lake are pretty quiet in the predawn hours. At around 5 a.m. last Aug. 7, Juan David Vasquez Loma decided to take one of those residential roads — Effie Street — to drive home two co-workers after a late shift at Garage Pizza on Sunset Boulevard near Fountain Avenue.
ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN BARTLETT
But Vasquez Loma, 25, encountered a green Honda, at or near the intersection of Effie and Micheltorena Street, that was stopped and partially blocking the way.
Vasquez Loma, a well-liked busboy at popular Mexican restaurant El Chavo, who often pulled a night shift on his second job doing deliveries for the nearby pizza joint, pulled out to pass the green Honda. As he did so, his passengers, Luis Lopez and Jonathan Mendoza, saw the Honda's male driver and a female passenger. The driver "looked at me and I won't ever forget that look," Lopez later said.
"He had a look like he was annoyed for us passing him," Mendoza testified at a hearing last month.
A few blocks later, as Vasquez Loma drove south on Silver Lake Boulevard, the Honda pulled up alongside his black pickup. The driver made gang signs with his hands, Mendoza told police later. Lopez saw that the driver had a gun, then heard a gunshot. A single bullet struck Vasquez Loma in the temple. He lost control of his pickup, crashing into a parked Mercedes.
The hardworking busboy, who chose a fateful route home, died a week later after his mother allowed him to be taken off life support and donated his organs to others.
In court a few weeks ago, Lopez and Mendoza identified Jose Beltran, the ghostly-pale, wiry man sitting at the defense table in a blue jail jumpsuit, as the driver who shot their friend for no reason other than that Vasquez Loma had passed him on Effie Street. An LAPD gang unit officer said Beltran, 18, is a member of FLC, or "Familias Los Craziest," a tiny tagger crew/gang that claims a chunk of Silver Lake as its turf. The shooting, Officer Garrett Breegle of Rampart Division suggested, was Beltran's bid to earn his "stripes."
But there was something incongruous here. With its ultratrendy cafés and boutiques and funky, modernist architecture, Silver Lake is a haven for the artsy and the successful, many of whom dislike the moniker frequently attributed to them, hipsters.
Homicides are rare — only six in Silver Lake since 2007. Residents are proud of their civic activism.
With Beltran awaiting trial, possibly later this year, for first-degree murder, residents are chilled by the thought that such a brazen shooting could have happened, that one of their neighbors, a middle-class kid, allegedly turned so senselessly violent.
Says one resident, "It's scary as hell."
In 1997, as gentrification spread through Silver Lake, Jose Beltran's mother bought a compact bungalow on a typically quaint, quirky local street for $132,000. Today, similar homes in the neighborhood sell for more than $450,000. Within walking distance are Intelligentsia coffeehouse, Flore Vegan Cuisine, and Casbah Café — described on Yelp! as a hipster magnet.
"The neighborhood has changed a whole lot," a resident says, with young professionals moving in alongside families who have lived there for generations.
Beltran and his two older brothers, though, were a handful, recalls the resident. They ran unsupervised around the neighborhood, and their mother struggled to keep them under control.
"There'd be a lot of yelling out there," the resident says. Beltran seemed "very withdrawn" and "didn't really interact with most of the neighbors."
He attended John Marshall High School in affluent Los Feliz, the alma mater of Leonardo DiCaprio, Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss and local City Councilman Tom LaBonge. He does not appear to have graduated.
Silver Lake borders East Hollywood, Echo Park and Atwater Village, which all have a significant gang presence. According to police, Beltran found his way to the violent tagging crew FLC, which has only 15 to 20 members but, Breegle testified, has committed robberies and assaults with a deadly weapon.
"Members of the gang have been congregating on the Rampart side of the border," an LAPD source says, referring to Sunset, which acts as a boundary between two LAPD divisions — Rampart and Northeast. "We believe this to be a gang. Their signs prove it. They have nicknames."
About two years ago, the gang's graffiti tagging started showing up on walls. In a photograph, Beltran can be seen flashing what appears to be the gang's "F" sign. Police say he's known as "White Boy" and "Spook," an apparent homage to his spectral complexion.
Several days after the murder, on Aug. 19, Beltran was driving his green Honda about a block away from his home when Breegle and a partner pulled him over for a vehicle code violation. The officers found a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic weapon and arrested him for possession. Beltran told Breegle he'd bought the gun for protection from the La Mirada Locos gang in East Hollywood. "He claimed he had been shot at on two separate occasions," Breegle later testified.
On Aug. 29, prosecutors charged Beltran with the cold-blooded shooting of Juan David Vasquez Loma.
28 comments
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It is my belief that any reasonable person who takes the time to review the reporting record of the silver lake blvd. shooting and subsequent investigation will conclude an overwhelming preponderance of events and statements which are often associated with either mistakes or misconduct of the investigative apparatus.
Among those numerous improprieties, I see indicators of an attempt, whether intended or unintended, of the most severe and shocking magnitude which will without question count as a violation of the oath under which the investigators must operate and would also deprive the defendant of his constitutional rights.
The preponderance is so overwhelming that I would be negligent to not call for a full scale audit of the silver lake blvd. shooting investigation. The importance of conducting an audit to guarantee the integrity of the investigation goes beyond the specific case and bears on the operation and integrity of the entire department.
In this specific case, we must guarantee the integrity of the investigationbecause it directly affects our duty to ensure the Constitutional right of due process in the prosecution of the defendant. The people of the state of California are the prosecutors of defendant on the most serious of charges. I am one of the people of the state of California and I don't get to take a free pass to be negligent in my duties.
The nature of events and sequence of events and the press reports involving the arrest of the suspect qualify as unusual and irregular to a degree which begs to be placed under a formal audit.
We are first asked to accept the coincidence that the suspect was already in LAPD custody after arrest on an unrelated charge approximately 16 - 24 hours prior to a news conference at Northeast Station to present the composite sketch of the suspect.
We are asked to accept that suspect was stopped for a vehicle code violation. We are asked to accept the traffic stop occured in Downtown L.A. - as was reported at the time. We are asked to accept that the location of the traffic stop has now been updated to one block from the suspect's residence in Silver Lake - attributed to the testimony of Officer Breagle at the January hearing.
We are asked to accept that suspect's vehicle contained a handgun that was the basis for the charge under which suspect was arrested. Based on testimony given and testimony lacking at the January hearing, we can infer that police found no evidence of suspect's fingerprints on the gun found in the vehicle.
We are asked to accept that the gun found in the vehicle belongs to the suspect based on testimony of Officer Breagle that suspect made an admission of ownership to him.
We are asked to accept that Rampart Gang Unit Officers became familiar with the suspect composite sketch upon its first availability and matched it to the man in custody on the weapons possession charge from the traffic stop.
We are asked to accept that the Rampart Officer(s) then phoned Northeast Station Detective Carillo, even though instructions for the composite sketch were to call Detective Burcher.
Here is the one opportunity for anyone to to make their own evaluation. No familiarity with the case is necessary. I have made my own conclusion and I remain confident in my conclusion.
You can make your own determination. Do you believe it is true that Rampart Officers told Detective Carillo that they may have his suspect in custody because he matches the composite sketch?
Look at the sketch next to a photograph of the defendant and draw your own conclusion.
The unusual events and coincidences of the suspects arrest and the release of the composite sketch necessitate a formal audit and investigation after one more factor is added to the equation.
It was known at the time that Councilman Tom LaBonge had resolved and was moving decisively to bring a motion before the Los Angeles City Counci authorizing a cash reward for information in solving the case and identifying suspsects for succesful prosecution.
The events of the arrest and release of composite sketch indicate a coordinated scramble to arrest the defendant and suspend the investigation before a reward was authorized. The reward meant Northeast Detectives would lose their total control over any new tips logged into record under the reward offer.
The detectives would lose their option of which tips to check on and which ones to throw in the trash. If that was the outcome desired by actions of any personnel involved, then we have an egregious and obnoxious violation of oath and an offense against the most basic principles of our system of justice..
It is my belief that any reasonable person who takes the time to review the reporting record of the silver lake blvd. shooting and subsequent investigation will conclude an overwhelming preponderance of events and statements which are often associated with either mistakes or misconduct of the investigative apparatus.
Among those numerous improprieties, I see indicators of an attempt, whether intended or unintended, of the most severe and shocking magnitude which will without question count as a violation of oath and an attempt to deny Constitutional rights of due process.
The preponderance is so overwhelming that I would be negligent to not call for a full scale audit of the silver lake blvd. shooting investigation. The importance of conducting an audit to guarantee the integrity of the investigation goes beyond the specific case and bears on the operation and integrity of the entire department.
In this specific case, we must guarantee the integrity of the investigationbecause it directly affects our duty to ensure the Constitutional right of due process in the prosecution of the defendant. The people of the state of California are the prosecutors of defendant on the most serious of charges. I am one of the people of the state of California and I don't get to take a free pass to be negligent in my duties.
What I see in the events of this case are indicators of numerous improprieties involving the conduct of the investigation.s a violation of the oath under which the investigators must operate and deprive the defendant of his Constitutional rights..
The nature of events and sequence of events and the press reports involving the arrest of the suspect qualify as unusual and irregular to a degree which begs to be placed under a formal audit.
We are first asked to accept the coincidence that the suspect was already in LAPD custody after arrest on an unrelated charge approximately 16 - 24 hours prior to a news conference at Northeast Station to present the composite sketch of the suspect.
We are asked to accept that suspect was stopped for a vehicle code violation. We are asked to accept the traffic stop occured in Downtown L.A. - as was reported at the time. We are asked to accept that the location of the traffic stop has now been updated to one block from the suspect's residence in Silver Lake - attributed to the testimony of Officer Breagle at the January hearing.
We are asked to accept that suspect's vehicle contained a handgun that was the basis for the charge under which suspect was arrested. Based on testimony given and testimony lacking at the January hearing, we can infer that police found no evidence of suspect's fingerprints on the gun found in the vehicle.
We are asked to accept that the gun found in the vehicle belongs to the suspect based on testimony of Officer Breagle that suspect made an admission of ownership to him.
We are asked to accept that Rampart Gang Unit Officers became familiar with the suspect composite sketch upon its first availability and matched it to the man in custody on the weapons possession charge from the traffic stop.
We are asked to accept that the Rampart Officer(s) then phoned Northeast Station Detective Carillo, even though instructions for the composite sketch were to call Detective Burcher.
Here is the one opportunity for anyone to to make their own evaluation. No familiarity with the case is necessary. I have made my own conclusion and I remain confident in my conclusion.
You can make your own determination. Do you believe it is true that Rampart Officers told Detective Carillo that they may have his suspect in custody because he matches the composite sketch?
Look at the sketch next to a photograph of the defendant and draw your own conclusion.
The unusual events and coincidences of the suspects arrest and the release of the composite sketch necessitate a formal audit and investigation after one more factor is added to the equation.
It was known at the time that Councilman Tom LaBonge had resolved and was moving decisively to bring a motion before the Los Angeles City Counci authorizing a cash reward for information in solving the case and identifying suspsects for succesful prosecution.
The events of the arrest and release of composite sketch indicate a coordinated scramble to arrest the defendant and suspend the investigation before a reward was authorized. The reward meant Northeast Detectives would lose their total control over any new tips logged into record under the reward offer.
The detectives would lose their option of which tips to check on and which ones to throw in the trash. If that was the outcome desired by actions of any personnel involved, then we have an egregious and obnoxious violation of oath and an offense against the most basic principles of our system of justice..
LMFAO ×100 !
So everybody' s afraid of retaliation from the gangs...but when it's time for the police to roll their sleeves up & get to work...you hear .." police brutality, violation of rights, respect for these human beings...." it seems that people are more vocal against police kicking criminal ass than they are about criminals killing innocent people! WTF! ?
The article is half and half.
Half truth and half trash.
One-half accurate transcription of the proceedings at the January hearing
and the other half propaganda crafted and targeted at reinforcing confidence in the dubious official presentation of the silver lake blvd. shooting and discouraging efforts to uncover the true nature of events.
The reporter claims that residents refused to be identified for fear of retaliation.The reporter also quotes someone else who is not identified - his "police source".
Let reporter Matheww Heller come back here and identify his "police source" and provide us some detail of who contacted who for the purpose of writing his article.
To Detective Steve Flores:
Thank You for Standing up for principle. Thank you for having the integrity to disengage your actions and your reputation from any further participation in a charade which insults the core of your oath. Thank you for your courage to repudiate the unsavory and unethical mission which attempted to draft your service.
You may not be the smartest, nor the tallest, nor the swiftest, nor the prettiest, but - you are solid. You are a man of integrity, honor and principles.
Chief Beck constantly emphasizes the importance of the process over the results. The need to establish and maintain the standards.
Law and order. For law and order to survive requires that no individual or individuals decide on their own to alter or obfuscate the established order. They may have been well intentioned - but the damage which is done to our confidence in the system will eventually result in costly negative returns.
I do not see how I can any longer maintain total confidence in the product of any operation under the command of Captain Murphy.
However, your word, Detective Steve Flores deserves credibility.
My compliment may be an utter paucity of reward, but it is all I have to offer. You have earned my respect, trust and gratitude.
I salute and commend you Det. Steve Flores
Videotaped footage of the LAPD detectives at the Silver Lake Blvd. shooting scene is available for viewing on local TV news station websites.
Included is footage of three station detectives approaching the victims pick-up truck and closing in for a look at the interior driver's side of the victim's vehicle.
Detective Jose Carillo is shown placing his finger on the driver's door jam in order to pull the vehicle door open for viewing. Detective Jose Carillo appears to be using the index finger of his bare, uncovered hand to pull open the door of Vasquez Loma's vehicle.
Maybe Detective Carillo was already wearing a sterile vinyl glove that could not be readily seen on the video shot by a TV news crew.
If he wasn't wearing a glove, then Detective Jose Carillo should explain to the residents of Silver Lake why it makes no difference to this investigation that he intentionaly contaminated the crime scene with his fingerprint.
Suspect Beltran drove his green Honda alongside Vasquez Loma's pick-up truck. Witness Mendoza saw Beltran make tgang signs with his hands. Witness Lopez saw that Beltran had a gun, then he heard a gunshot.
How many hands does Jose Beltran have? One hand steering his moving vehicle, another hand making gang signs, a third hand holding a gun?
Maybe the confusion about the exact number of hands and arms belonging to suspect Beltran is simply a technicality - not worthy of any undue attention or concern.
But a much greater and perplexing question remains for the prosecution of Jose Beltran to resolve for potential jurors. Witness Lopez claims "he will never forget the look" he got of the suspect Jose Beltran whom he identified in court as the shooter.
Lopez, using his memory of the shooting on Silver Lake Blvd. from 5 months earlier, has positively identified Jose Beltran in the courtroom as the shooter.
If Beltran is the man he saw with the gun before his friend and co-worker was shot, then who is the man seen in the composite sketch based on Lopez and Mendoza's recollection????????
"Juan David Vasquez Loma decided to take one of those roads.."
Did he really decide that all by himself? So that he can take the blame for getting himself murdered?
The day of the shooting, the police told news reporters that the female passenger was not considered a suspect.
That explains everything about this case. The police have done everything to make sure that the female passenger is not a suspect.
First the police said it was "road rage".
Now, Officer Breegle says the suspect "was trying to earn his stripes."
Detective Carillo told The Patch that Beltran was associated with Varrio La Mirada Lokos back in August. In December Detective Carillo told the Los Feliz Ledger that Beltran was in a gang, but he refused to identify the gang. Now, Breegle says that Beltran is a member of a violent tagging crew FLC.
No residents contacted for this article were willing to be identified.Two other people refered to in this article have not been identified - no explanation has been given.
Every rule can be broken as long as those two remain out of sight.
The sister of Diane Villeda and the reporters "police source".
Anything it takes so that nobody will ask about the relatationship between Villeda's sister and an LAPD Rampart gang unit officer and Varrio La Mirada. And lying in wait to attack a delivery boy for Garage Pizza.
Fact: this story is very sad indeed. Another fact is, if you grew up or are from the area you know that this is nothing new. If you are unaware of the crime rate or gang activity in this area then chances are a.) you are from another state and b.) you came to Los Angeles in hopes of becoming and actor, musician or some kind of hip artist. CRIME HAPPENS ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE. To blame "Mexicans" is an outrage. Any race or gender is capable of committing murder. Yes in this area it is common for young men to likely join a gang or crew simply because of their upbringing. Just like a child molester or abusive parent can raise a murderous predator anywhere. What is the difference here?
If you know that this is going on around you then simply leave.
Lets not forget that Mexicans were here first. What kind of savage crimes happened when Mexico was overtaken by U.S.?
Anyway, yes its truly sad that this young man lost him life for something so simple as to passing a car, but what are you going to do? The person who committed this crime is in jail now. He can no longer hurt anyone. So... now we all go back to living our lives like normal until the next crime happens and everyone is outraged again... and then the next one, and then the next one.... This is life, you need to understand that these things happen and even more so in this city.Silverlake isn't as great as everyone makes it out to be. People come from different states and flock to this area because its the place to be. They open vegan cafes and vintage clothing stores, and raise the cost of living in general, not to mention flooding our freeways and driving terribly in our streets! I don't understand why!! I am almost 30 yrs old and grew up here so I think I know the area pretty well. If you are looking for someplace perfect to live and raise your children in then go live at Disneyland or something. And good luck.
Although a sad story to be sure I hate to admit it but I no longer care what the Mexicans do to one another. Screw them. We packed up and left our Life Time home in Southern California so we could attempt to raise our two boys in relative safety.Our neighborhood and our entire town had become a Trash Heaop and a danger to our children when Mexico Invaded. Many innocent Americans have been killed long before this Illegal,wheres the outrage for them? Argue with this LOGIC, Had the Murdered Kid stayed home in MEHICO he`d still be alive EHHH.
Where did you move Bob? How is the relative safety there? Your neighborhood became a trash heap because you don't care.
I can't argue with your logic, Bob - because your conclusions are not based in logic.The murdered kid from Mexico would not have been targeted if he had not taken the job at Garage.
TAGGERS SPRAY ON WALLS GANGSTAS KILL MOTHA FUCKAS.. THIS FOO IS A WANNA BE AS WEEL AS HIS LIL CREW I AM FROM SOUTH CENTRAL LA... GREW UP OUR R 30 CRIPS,, BEEFED WITH THE STONES AND 18ST BEEFED WITH MS.... NOTHIN NEW JUST A FAKE ASS GANGSTA KILLING AN INICENT PERSON... NO LOVE IN JAIL BUT BOOTY LOVE LMAO\
yeah welcome to the hood. If you quiver and shake go back west ways.Or perhaps Brookland. Any of you recent arrivals know the history of Blood Alley? I thought not.Personally I'm heading to Boyle Heights I prefer the people there to the hipster invasion. BTW If you don't know how to pour concrete or frame a wall. or sweat pipe you are a hipster.
I love it how these douchebags think they're so tough and that murder is less cringe-worthy than some overpriced vegan latte yoga bar. It's not. Do the world a favor: tag inside your own apartment and shoot yourself instead. And then clean it up.
there is nothing confusing or awry with this trial. That all can be cleared up by Detective Carrillo.
Excuse all of the eyewitnesses,
let them go home and rest. Detective Carrillo can testify to what villeda and her sister told him.
He can also testify for vasquez-loma's passengers - he managed all the line-ups.
Man.... you really have the hots for detective Carrillo ...watch you dont get charged with cyber bullying or cyber stalking!
Any reference to Detective Carillo contained in my comments are limited solely to his actions and statements learned through television news and newspaper reports of him in his capacity as sworn, professional member of the LAPD and as an officer of the court under oath governing his conduct and testimony.
II have never and do not ever intend to communicate with him in any private or personal capacity. I accord him the full respect and privacy to which he is entitled and I would never seek to breach that boundary and i would never condone anybody to breach that boundary.
I begin with the presumption that Detective Carillo is sincere and well-intentioned in his conduct and statements made in his capacity as a Detective assigned to investigate this case and as an officer of the court bound by oath governing his conduct and testimony.
All of that now stated and affirmed, It is my belief that any reasonable person who takes the time to review the reporting record of the silver lake blvd. incident and subsequent investigation will conclude an overwhelming preponderance of events and statements which are often associated with either mistakes or misconduct of the investigative apparatus.
Oh yeah...Atwater was a battleground, The Rascals (TRS) and over by the 134 was Toonerville. There was some very heavy duty killings yiou might remember, they finally arrested the gunman in Arizona....I can;t remember if he was a Rascal or Toonerville. We live on Waverly Dr. now, and on the wall at the corner there with Glendale The Rascals would put up their name, or the Crazies, or 18th street, whoever. That was just a fact of life then. They were fun times, but I don;t miss the gangs, and hope they nail FLC hard.
This is a sad one. Brings back a lot of memories.....there was a gang killing up on Effie right near there back in the late 80's. Effie and Lucile. The victim was a kid, not yet 18, and if I remember right wasn;t a gang member. I think the killer was a MIcheltorena Loco (MLS), they lived mostly at the cheap flats near Sunset, selling a lot of crack. THose are full of artists and musicians now. The neighbornood near the junction, between Santa Monica and Fountain, Hillhurst and Sunset was domintated by a newer gang whose name completely escapes me, but they were a major problem. n fact, there were killings, shootings and a fire bombing or two throughout Silverlake periodically through the late 90's. Gunfire was a common occurence. There was a gang called Aztlan that used to be centered at Parkman and Sunset...the very last of them I think was shot down around 2000. Their house got firebombed too. They were exterminated I guess. There was briefly a tag team called God's From Silverlake (GFS) if I remember right. And a really violent gang that sprang up--I think they called themselvges the Crazies--in Silverlake in the 90's....put their monker up everywhere, I remember one day they had gone though Echo Park and crossed out every "EP" they could find and sprayed they're name over it.....they didn;t last much longer. You had to be crazy to fuck with EP. Oh yeah, there was White Fence and Armenian Power nearby, too. If you lived in the hood you got to know all their insignias. You didn't fuck with them and they didn;t fuck with you. Hard to believe the Sunset Junction Fair began as an attempt to reduce gang violence and gangs vs gay issues. We lived on Edgecliffe till 1990--there was a crackhouse two doors down and a smackhouse two doors up from us. And that was north of Sunset. The area has gentrified so dramatically---any long time residents (we're going on three decades now) has watched it. Gentrified, gone straight, and the restaurants are all overpriced (remember Seafood Bay?). Still, there's much less crime, now, and the streets are safe, but hell, it used to be a lot more fun.....
Well, apparently I live in the same neighborhood as this fine young man, and I will urge my neighbors once again; if you see graffiti call 311 as soon as you have a chance and request that it be removed! This may not seem like a big deal but it does make a difference.
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