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  Presence of gang activity no longer denied web posted August 15, 2008 Tagging in the Morange area for the "E-Town" gang  EDGEFIELD – With the
fallout from the
recent melee
that took place last weekend on Morange Street from the
mother of two of those arrested claiming officers “attacked” one of her
sons for no reason and others grumbling about how many officers arrived
on the scene. The one thing that has eluded news reports is the history
of the area and the active gang activity that is taking place there and
across other areas of the town and county. Some news reports fail to
even mention the gunfire that erupted during the near two-hour event
and leaned closer to insinuating possible police brutality.Below: A warning by the E-Town gang  Edgefield Police
Chief Ronnie Carter was asked if there were gangs in
the area and his reply was quite blunt, there is no question about it.
Gang “tagging”, spray painted messages left around a gang’s “turf”, is
abundantly evident all around the area of the recent melee. Tagging for
the
gangs Bloods 803 and E-Town Boys run almost the entire length of
Morange Street and the surrounding area as a warning to other gangs,
and even police. One contained a reference directly related to the
Edgefield Police.Just this week the editor of the Citizen News, Mike Rosier, simply rode down the street to take a picture of the street sign at the intersection and had a child shoot his truck with a B-B gun causing a small amount of damage to the door. Others have been told to “get the “f” out of our street.” Also prominently found are warnings to rival gangs such as the “J-Town boys” (Johnston). Other gangs have also tagged some of the same areas such as the M8 and 305 Boys. In Edgefield alone tagging contained the names of five gangs as well as nicknames. Below: A tagging by the Edgefield "Bloods" saying "F- J-Town signed by Bloods" next to an M8 tagging on Beaverdam Road  The known gang
activity in the Morange Street area and the growing
unruly and confrontational crowd, along with the repeated gunfire
during the melee placed police on a heightened level of vigilance that
night and it was remarkable that only three people were taken to jail,
not including a juvenile later released to a parent after striking a
police officer trying to make an arrest.Though in the past law enforcement has been reluctant to say there is a gang problem in the county, it has escalated to a point that it can no longer be denied. Chief Carter and his officers were forthcoming that they are building a database on the gangs that included one gang member pictured on a MySpace page displaying a gang symbol and holding a handgun, however, the information and photos were not released Below: More gang tagging near Morange Street  In early June
Johnston was the target of two rival gangs causing around
$10,000 in damage to property as they made their presence known. Both
of those gangs were Mexican gangs, the “18th
Street gang” and the “WSL”
or “West Side Locos” according to the “tagging” left behind. The
taggings took place in an area claimed by the “J-Town Boys” At the time
Johnston Police Chief Chris Aston said it was believed the Mexican
gangs were coming out of Aiken trying to get a foothold on the area.The gangs are not limited to Edgefield and Johnston. Other gangs identified active are the “Quarter Boys” or “25 gang”, that is mainly in the area of highway 25 between Bettis Academy Road and Jacob McKie Road, the Country Boys (lower hyw 25 south area including the western part of the Sweetwater and Merriwether Communities), and the T-Town (Trenton) gang. Edgefield County Sheriff Adell Dobey was out of town attending a Sheriff’s Convention and was not able to be contacted for comment for this story. ©
Copyright 2008
EdgefieldDaily.com All
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EdgefieldDaily.com and cannot be reproduced, rewritten or redistributed
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