Injunction Restricting Gang’s Activities Granted

A Superior Court judge has granted an injunction restricting the activities of a Compton street gang allegedly at the center of a recent bloody gang war, authorities said Friday.

Judge Richard L. Fruin Jr. on Thursday approved the injunction against the Compton Varrio Tortilla Flats gang, which has had recent gunfights with rival gangs that have left at least one dead and four wounded, including two bystanders, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jacqueline Jackson.

The injunction covers about a half-square-mile of Compton including Gonzales Park, which the gang claims as its turf, Jackson said.

Fruin rejected an attempt to prevent members from associating in public, citing insufficient evidence to support the request, Jackson said. But the judge granted the injunction’s remaining terms.

The injunction prevents members from harassing or obstructing residents, carrying weapons in public and possessing instruments that can be used to etch or spray graffiti. It also places restrictions on nighttime movements of members, 45 of whom are named.

The gang has terrorized residents and business owners in the neighborhood for about two decades, Jackson said.

The injunction is the 11th granted against a street gang in the county but the first in Compton.