City attorney targets 2 South LA properties with gang lawsuit

Local law enforcement officials are putting pressure on two South Los Angeles properties they say have been tied to a deadly decade-long gang feud.

L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer's office said Monday it had filed a gang nuisance abatement lawsuit against the owners of both properties in response to an uptick in violence and criminal activity over the past year.

One of the properties, a 36-unit apartment complex on the 9300 block of South Central Avenue, has served as the headquarters of the Be Bop Bloods street gang, according to a statement from Feuer's office. The statement names Main-South Central Associates, LP as the owner.

The other property, a fourplex on the 800 block of East 90th Street, serves as a stronghold for the Family Swan Bloods, a rival gang whose turf borders that of the Be Bop Bloods, Feuer's office said. Current and former owners are listed as Analia Bortolo, Lawrence Green and Roslin Childers-Green.

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"For too long, the residents of these South Los Angeles neighborhoods have lived in a war zone," Feuer said in a prepared statement. "Our lawsuits aim to shut down these gang strongholds and stop the bullets from flying."

The South Central Avenue property has seen 30 arrests since 2011 for gun possession and narcotics, as well as eight documented shootings, including a homicide in September, according to Feuer's office. It's just across the street from a youth development center and within 2,000 feet of two elementary schools and a church.

Five drive-by shootings, six gun-related arrests and a stabbing have been documented at the 90th Street fourplex, which is near two churches, a high school and a community recreation center.

The lawsuits seek to place an injunction on the properties prohibiting gang and criminal activity there and requiring the owners to live there "until the nuisance is abated."

Feuer's office is also seeking to require several property improvements, including an Internet-connected video monitoring system, improved lighting, secure gating and fencing, improved tenant screening and lease enforcement procedures, and armed, licensed security guards, according to the statement.

The city attorney and local law enforcement have been conducting a campaign against properties that have been at the center of gang, gun and drug activity.

Feuer's office noted it has filed 38 actions since July 2013, with 53 injunctions requiring property or managerial improvements.

Other recent abatement lawsuits have been filed against properties in Hollywood, South L.A., Watts, Venice and Del Rey, according to the City Attorney's Office.