June 20, 2000

Police say the suspects behind a lot of high-profile crimes lately happen to be well-known gang members, and that has led to a disturbing increase in the rate of gang violence in the Salt Lake Valley.

Crime Specialist Karen Scullin has more.

There is a difference of opinion among police officers whether all of the crimes committed by gang members are technically "gang" crimes. But what is clear, is that when there is a violent crime in the Salt Lake Area, the chances that the culprit is a gang member, are pretty good.

Police and members of the Metro Gang Unit searched for three suspects in Friday's armed robbery of an hispanic-owned business.

Antonio Bandoras and several others are believed to be gang members who robbed and threatened business owners and customers in a string of armed robberies.

And remember the man who holed himself up in ZCMI for hours last week? He was also a well known gang member.

So was 23 year old David Trujillo. He allegedly shot a police officer in the face after a burglary and chase in April of this year.

And who could forget the shooting rampage at the Chevy's Restaurant in Sandy -- the suspect there, 21 year old Quinn Martinez, is a well known gang member. Just a few of the cases that police say have caused the rate gang-related crimes in the Salt Lake Valley, to go up.

Sgt. Paul Brenneman/Metro Gang Unit: WE'RE SEEING GUNS AND KNIVES ON ALMOST A DAILY BASIS.

In Salt Lake City, so far this year, gang related shootings are up 25 percent.

Gang-related felonies, which are measured separately from shootings, are also up 25 percent.

Drug offenses are up almost fifty percent as are weapons offenses. Those two create a serious potential for violence.

But aggravated assault, robbery, and driveby shootings by gangs are down.

So, across the Salt Lake Valley, gang crime overall is up about 6.5 percent.

Sgt. Paul Brenneman: AT THIS POINT, 6.5 PERCENT IS NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL. BUT IT DOES SHOW A TREND UP, AND WE WANT TO KEEP IT DOWN.

Brenneman thinks that percentage could be even higher from what the gang unit sees on the streets.