Articles
Cicero files suits against two gangs
May 12, 1999
BY CARLOS SADOVI SUBURBAN REPORTER
Cicero officials are seeking more than $11 million from two street gangs in suits
filed Tuesday, and they plan to sue 16 more gangs operating in the west suburb.
The town sued 268 members of the Latin Kings and 26 members of the Noble
Knights, alleging that the gangs have terrorized law abiding citizens in the town.
They are also seeking additional measures, including preventing the listed gang
members from wearing clothing with gang colors or symbols, congregating on
public streets, carrying markers or spray paint and even from having dogs.
The lawsuits, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, target the gangs and the
individual gang members and list two full pages of Latin King members and half
a page of the smaller Noble Knights gang with nicknames such as "Bat Man,"
"Chino" and "Capone."
Lawsuits against additional gangs will be filed by the end of the month, said
Barry Pechter, Cicero's attorney.
The two gangs were chosen because they are the most active in the town. The
Latin Kings is primarily a Latino gang, and the Noble Knights primarily a
Caucasian gang, officials said.
The suits were patterned after successful actions in San Jose, San Diego and
Los Angeles, Calif., and aim to piggyback on the town's recently passed
gang-free ordinance. The ordinance calls for eviction of known or admitted
gang members from the town, said Town President Betty Loren-Maltese.
"This is going to be punch two and three against the gang members; they haven't
seen punches four or five," Loren-Maltese said before the suits were filed.
"They tell the officers now that they are part of social clubs. People are fed up."
In the suits, the town is aiming to recoup the more than $1 million spent to clean
up graffiti and repair damage caused by criminal activities of the gangs.
Pechter said he filed suit in state court because the California cases have been
successful in state court rather than in federal court, where most civil rights suits
are filed. The California Supreme Court in 1997 allowed similar lawsuits.
Pechter said the most difficult thing about the suits will be serving notice to the
gang members. Next week he plans to go before a judge to ask that the local
police gang unit serve each of the gang members listed in both suits.