Street Gang

SANTA ANA - An Orange County prosecutor on Wednesday described an alleged Costa Mesa gang member accused of attempted murder as a "puppeteer" who convinced younger teens to help him in a shooting that left a 15-year-old girl wounded in the Shalimar area. Prosecutors say Salvador Hilario Burciaga, 23, ran up to a crowd on Shalimar Drive on July 28, 2008. Wearing a blue bandanna across his face, he allegedly yelled a common gang challenge, "Where are you from?" Burciaga stands accused of then using a sawed-off shotgun to shoot a girl in the chest before anyone could respond.

One of four members of a Vietnamese criminal street gang was sentenced Friday for the 1995, execution-style murder of a fellow gang associate. Anthony Johnson Jr., 36, of Westminster, was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. His three co-defendants, Giang Thuy Nguyen, Tam Hung Nguyen and Truc Ngoc Tran, are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 21. Each was found guilty in April of one felony count of murder and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder.

Four members of a Vietnamese street gang will be tried in court Thursday in connection with the 1995 cold case slaying of a fellow gang member in Costa Mesa, authorities said. Anthony Paul Johnson Jr., 35, of Westminster, Giang Thuy Nguyen, 36, of Fountain Valley, Tam Hung Nguyen, 36, of Riverside, and Truc Ngoc Tran, 34, of Santa Ana, each face one felony count of murder and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder for the shooting death of fellow gang member Viet Nguyen, who left during a home invasion robbery of a classmate's home in Huntington Beach for fear that he would be identified, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

Costa Mesa police have arrested two suspected gang members who allegedly followed a man off a bus, chased him down Harbor Boulevard and then assaulted him, authorities said Friday. Zachariah Acosta, 21, of La Habra, and Arturo Gonzalez, 20, of Anaheim, allegedly confronted a 25-year-old Costa Mesa man about 7:30 p.m. March 15 on an Orange County Transportation Authority bus as it traveled through Costa Mesa, according to police. When the man got off the bus near Harbor and Bay Street, the assailants followed him. One suspect assaulted the man with his fists, while the other brandished a gun, police said.

COSTA MESA -- Prosecutors will not pursue the death penalty in the trial of the man accused in the shooting death of a 15-year-old Costa Mesa girl and her unborn baby. Paul Odwald, a senior deputy district attorney, said there has been a slew of additional charges filed against Guerrero, including committing murder for the benefit of a street gang. Balbuena died at Hoag Hospital a few hours after Guerrero allegedly shot into a converted garage apartment as the young mother-to-be ate dinner with her family.

Costa Mesa police made arrests Wednesday and Thursday in connection with a July 15 gang-related shooting of a pregnant woman on Pamela Lane, though they did not reveal information about the arrests until Friday. The department's gang unit arrested Jose Navarro, 18, of Costa Mesa on Wednesday and Daniel Arias, 19, of Santa Ana, on Thursday. Arias was arrested on suspicion of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, street gang crime and assault with a deadly weapon. Navarro was charged Friday with five felony counts in connection with the shooting, among them shooting at an occupied building, assault and street terrorism.

A 14-year-old cold case surrounding the execution-style murder of alleged gang member Viet Nguyen in Costa Mesa has finally been solved, authorities said Thursday. Three of four members of a Vietnamese criminal street gang will be arraigned in Santa Ana today for allegedly killing Nguyen after he abandoned them while committing a robbery in Huntington Beach, according to Orange County prosecutors. A fourth man accused is in a Minnesota prison, awaiting extradition. A grand jury indicted all four Jan. 15. The case remained unsolved for more than a decade, until the Costa Mesa Police Department and prosecutors received some new information, police said.

Members of a Vietnamese street gang were convicted Tuesday in a 1995 cold-case slaying in Costa Mesa, authorities said. The four men - Anthony Paul Johnson Jr., 35, of Westminster; Giang Thuy Nguyen, 36, of Fountain Valley; Tam Hung Nguyen, 36, of Riverside; and Truc Ngoc Tran, 34, of Santa Ana - were found guilty of one felony count of murder and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, with sentencing enhancements for lying in...

A Costa Mesa man could possibly be sentenced to life without parole in August for his part in killing a fellow gang member to steal his car and sell it for parts, prosecutors said. Aurelio Fidencio Saldivar, 30, was convicted of first-degree murder during a robbery, for the benefit of a street gang, and street terrorism Wednesday for shooting Raffi Yessayan, a blind, Armenian albino gang member, in the head in June 2006. Prosecutors claim Saldivar and two fellow gang members, Marco Charcas-Fernandez, 23, and Ruben Oliveros, 28, both of Santa Ana, were driving with Yessayan in June 2006 when Oliveros got into an argument with Yessayan.

Eight people have been charged in connection with the slaying of a Costa Mesa man who was found dead in front of a nursery school in the city of Orange nearly one month ago, officials said. The Orange County District Attorney's office charged three alleged gang members with killing 26-year-old Raffi Yessayan in an apparent robbery June 7. Five additional people have been charged with accessory to murder after the fact. Yessayan's body was discovered at 6:15 a.m. in front of the nursery school in the 900 block of West Lincoln Avenue, near the Santa Ana River Channel in Orange, police said.

Costa Mesa police have arrested two suspected gang members who allegedly followed a man off a bus, chased him down Harbor Boulevard and then assaulted him, authorities said Friday. Zachariah Acosta, 21, of La Habra, and Arturo Gonzalez, 20, of Anaheim, allegedly confronted a 25-year-old Costa Mesa man about 7:30 p.m. March 15 on an Orange County Transportation Authority bus as it traveled through Costa Mesa, according to police. When the man got off the bus near Harbor and Bay Street, the assailants followed him. One suspect assaulted the man with his fists, while the other brandished a gun, police said.

SANTA ANA - An Orange County prosecutor on Wednesday described an alleged Costa Mesa gang member accused of attempted murder as a "puppeteer" who convinced younger teens to help him in a shooting that left a 15-year-old girl wounded in the Shalimar area. Prosecutors say Salvador Hilario Burciaga, 23, ran up to a crowd on Shalimar Drive on July 28, 2008. Wearing a blue bandanna across his face, he allegedly yelled a common gang challenge, "Where are you from?" Burciaga stands accused of then using a sawed-off shotgun to shoot a girl in the chest before anyone could respond.

One of four members of a Vietnamese criminal street gang was sentenced Friday for the 1995, execution-style murder of a fellow gang associate. Anthony Johnson Jr., 36, of Westminster, was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. His three co-defendants, Giang Thuy Nguyen, Tam Hung Nguyen and Truc Ngoc Tran, are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 21. Each was found guilty in April of one felony count of murder and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder.

Members of a Vietnamese street gang were convicted Tuesday in a 1995 cold-case slaying in Costa Mesa, authorities said. The four men - Anthony Paul Johnson Jr., 35, of Westminster; Giang Thuy Nguyen, 36, of Fountain Valley; Tam Hung Nguyen, 36, of Riverside; and Truc Ngoc Tran, 34, of Santa Ana - were found guilty of one felony count of murder and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, with sentencing enhancements for lying in...

Four members of a Vietnamese street gang will be tried in court Thursday in connection with the 1995 cold case slaying of a fellow gang member in Costa Mesa, authorities said. Anthony Paul Johnson Jr., 35, of Westminster, Giang Thuy Nguyen, 36, of Fountain Valley, Tam Hung Nguyen, 36, of Riverside, and Truc Ngoc Tran, 34, of Santa Ana, each face one felony count of murder and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder for the shooting death of fellow gang member Viet Nguyen, who left during a home invasion robbery of a classmate's home in Huntington Beach for fear that he would be identified, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

Costa Mesa police said they arrested the final suspect, a minor, in an attempted carjacking by gang members that sent a Newport Beach man to the hospital. In all, six minors ranging in age from 14 to 17 and Juan Carlos Juarez, 18, of Orange, were arrested on suspicion of pulling the victim from his car and beating him before attempting to steal the car, police said in a news release Wednesday night. On Aug. 2, the man was eating at the Del Taco at 1720 Superior Ave., when the group of suspected Varrio El Modena gang members from Orange approached him, flashed gang signs, a handgun and threatened to kill him, according to police.

COSTA MESA — A group of Costa Mesa teenagers are due back in court for a pretrial hearing next week on charges they were part of a gang that attacked and robbed a pedestrian in a Westside neighborhood. Juan Gonzalez, 18, Ricardo Perez, 19, Jesse Sanabria, 19, and Irvin Perez, 18, are among 10 men accused of attacking a man Sept. 4 in the 600 block of Plumer Street, kicking and punching him and then stealing his wallet. The four are charged with assault with a deadly weapon and enhancements for allegedly being part of a local street gang.

A Costa Mesa man could possibly be sentenced to life without parole in August for his part in killing a fellow gang member to steal his car and sell it for parts, prosecutors said. Aurelio Fidencio Saldivar, 30, was convicted of first-degree murder during a robbery, for the benefit of a street gang, and street terrorism Wednesday for shooting Raffi Yessayan, a blind, Armenian albino gang member, in the head in June 2006. Prosecutors claim Saldivar and two fellow gang members, Marco Charcas-Fernandez, 23, and Ruben Oliveros, 28, both of Santa Ana, were driving with Yessayan in June 2006 when Oliveros got into an argument with Yessayan.

A 14-year-old cold case surrounding the execution-style murder of alleged gang member Viet Nguyen in Costa Mesa has finally been solved, authorities said Thursday. Three of four members of a Vietnamese criminal street gang will be arraigned in Santa Ana today for allegedly killing Nguyen after he abandoned them while committing a robbery in Huntington Beach, according to Orange County prosecutors. A fourth man accused is in a Minnesota prison, awaiting extradition. A grand jury indicted all four Jan. 15. The case remained unsolved for more than a decade, until the Costa Mesa Police Department and prosecutors received some new information, police said.

A 17-year-old Costa Mesa male was fatally stabbed during a fight in Costa Mesa Saturday night, according to Costa Mesa police. The teen was pronounced dead early Sunday morning at Western Medical Center, police said. Police believe the incident was gang-related. Authorities have arrested Scott Santana, 23, of Costa Mesa as a suspect in the slaying of the teen whose name was not released, police said. Police are also charging Santana with criminal street gang activity.