Posted on 08/24/2006 5:21:25 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
Federal prosecutors began their racketeering case Thursday against a street gang with testimony from a Burbank police officer who was badly wounded in a shootout that killed a fellow officer.
Detective Gregory Campbell said he called for backup after smelling marijuana coming from a Cadillac Escalade in the parking lot of a motel.
After Officer Matthew Pavelka arrived, the driver began firing at Campbell from five feet away, he testified.
``I recall yelling out, 'gun,''' said Campbell, who went down after being shot in the stomach and head. He didn't see what happened next but recalled hearing more than two dozen shots.
Officer Jeff Lamoureaux said he arrived to find Pavelka, 26, face-down near his patrol car with chest and leg wounds.
``I just told him, keep fighting, that I was here to help him, and stay with me,'' Lamoureaux said. Pavelka's eyes were open, but he did not respond as Lamoureaux tried to stop the bleeding.
Prosecutors are trying to win racketeering and drug convictions against nine alleged members or associates of the Vineland Boys, a San Fernando Valley street gang.
None of the defendants is charged with murder. But prosecutors contend the crime was committed as part of the gang's criminal enterprise.
Authorities believe the gang started as a group of football buddies in the 1980s and grew into a criminal enterprise that engaged in murder, drug dealing and intimidation.
Defense lawyers for four of the nine suspects gave opening statements in which they said their clients were innocent and told jurors not to trust any jailhouse snitches who might testify.
Lawyer Donald Randolph, who represents Mariano Meza, said his client was not a gang associate and was only guilty of being the brother-in-law of another defendant.
``He does associate with his in-laws,'' Randolph said, showing jurors his client's wedding picture.
The defendants are being tried under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the same statute typically used to prosecute mafia bosses. It targets those who profit from criminal organizations but manage to avoid illegal activities.
Federal authorities are using the statutes to target an increasing number of street gangs.
Campbell was the first witness in the case against the Vineland Boys. He was a patrolman on Nov. 15, 2003, when the shooting occurred.
Campbell testified that one bullet went into his head and fragmented, damaging his spinal cord. He lost hearing in one ear and was paralyzed for two days. He still has restricted movement and some loss of feeling from his chest down, leaving him with impaired balance.
Authorities have said Pavelka was shot and killed by passenger David Garcia, faces a state trial on a murder charge. Ramon Aranda, the driver of the Escalade, died in the shootout.
Campbell was the first of an expected 150 witnesses in what could be a three-month trial against the racketeering defendants.
Prosecutors opened their case with a flurry of exhibits from the murder, including handguns and a motel surveillance tape that shows flashes of what might be gunfire.
Pavelka is seen diving or falling to the ground, and a man that prosecutors contend was Garcia is seen running away.
Burbank Detective Charles Howell, who took charge of the crime scene that night, testified that a total of 33 shots were fired from three handguns by the driver and passenger. Campbell fired two shots, and Pavelka fired eight times, Howell said.
Howell testified that Garcia met with other gang members after the killing. He said a football found in the Cadillac carried the letters ``VBS,'' short for Vineland Boys.
Vineland Boyz trial ping
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