EASTSIDE ESCALATION

by Ethan Stewart

According to authorities, saber rattling between two Eastside
gangs is responsible for the recent rash of violence on the lower
Eastside. Two young men, ages 16 and 18, were admitted to the
Cottage Hospital emergency room last Thursday afternoon with stab
wounds from an alleged gang fight near the Cacique Street
footbridge. The younger of the two was in critical condition due to
a thigh wound that nicked an artery. Just hours later, another man
was beaten unconscious around the 1100 block of Indio Muerto Street
in an incident police believe to be directly related to the
stabbing. Twenty-six-year-old Michael Castaneda was arrested early
Friday morning on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for
his supposed role in the Thursday stabbing. The
violence — according to a police spokesperson — is part of a battle
for “respect” between the mostly teenaged gang the Traviesos and
the slightly older Crazies. Since early March, there have been at
least four known gang-related incidents of violence in lower
Eastside neighborhoods. Further violence was averted last Friday
afternoon when police swarmed a brewing brawl in the Cacique
footbridge area, detaining 20 alleged gang members and arresting
seven others for assorted weapons and probation violations. Police
say gang members are attempting to broker a truce on their own.