Martin Garcia’s family considered him an ex-member of the Sureños street gang. Police say some guys from a rival gang, the Norteños, didn’t make the distinction.
Garcia, a 17-year-old from Longmont, died gruesomely last Saturday. In broad daylight, on a public street, a group of suspected Norteños beat Garcia with baseball bats, clubs and metal rods. Then, they stabbed him with what may have been a samurai sword.
“We have not seen this level of violence or brutality with gangs in our city,” Longmont Detective Cmdr. Craig Earhart said Tuesday.
Garcia’s death followed by three days a gang-related shooting where, Earhart said, a Sureño shot an ESL gang member after the ESL banger attacked the Sureño. Police do not think the shooting directly connects with what happened to Garcia.
The bloody truth of real gang life in Longmont mocks “West Side Story,” the musical remake of “Romeo and Juliet” that romanticized a pair of 1950s New York street gangs called the Jets and the Sharks. But one song’s lyrics resonate so grimly that they’re worth considering as Garcia’s grieving family buries him:
When you’re a Jet
You’re a Jet all the way
From your first cigarette
To your last dyin’ day!
Regardless of how you spin it, Martin Garcia died a Sureño.
Earhart isn’t sure why the attack on Garcia was so barbaric. It may have been payback for a beating that took place earlier in the day. Earhart said suspects arrested in the case offered that explanation: A group of Norteños was out to avenge an attack on a member several hours before Garcia was killed.
“They may have mistaken Martin for the person who did the beating,” Earhart said. “We don’t believe Martin did it.”
In the end, it didn’t matter whether Garcia beat anyone, just like it didn’t matter whether he left the gang, as his family told the cops.
As recently as last year, Longmont police had “contacts with Garcia as a Sureño gang member,” Earhart said. “His family said he was trying to get away (from the gang). Unfortunately, once you’ve been identified with a gang, you’re going to continue to be identified.
“Gang membership is a lot like drugs. Don’t start. … As much as Martin tried to withdraw, it still caught up to him.”
That’s because you’re known by the company you keep. Garcia may have felt like he was out of the gang, but he was attacked as he arrived at a house where Sureños lived, Earhart said.
That doesn’t justify his death. The people who did this need to do hard time.
Police said the first suspect arrested in the case, 21-year-old Adam Mizones, was carrying a samurai sword. Forensic evidence will determine if Mizones’ sword was a murder weapon. However, the cops were able to charge Mizones with carrying a concealed weapon. Then, they built a case for charges of second-degree murder and first-degree assault.
Tuesday, police picked up a second suspect, a 17-year-old who is charged with second-degree assault. They also arrested brothers David and Joseph Rodriguez, ages 20 and 18.
Longmont police say they “have been able to identify the majority of suspects involved in this attack.” So additional arrests are likely.
More likely, sadly, than folks getting a clue about gang life.
For the past decade, Earhart said, Longmont has operated a gang prevention program that includes cops, counselors and community leaders. But as last week proved, too many young people in the city continue to buy into the magical thinking manifest in these lyrics from “West Side Story:”
When you’re a Jet
Let ’em do what they can
You’ve got brothers around
You’re a family man!
You’re never alone
You’re never disconnected
You’re home with your own
When company’s expected
You’re well-protected!
When you hear that, think about Martin Garcia’s mutilated body.
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
