-Caveat Lector- Sounds like the Washington D.C. Malcolm X Park or maybe Rock Fork Park? Like a Jack the Ripper they left calling cards........ Well now that sodomy is acceptable be prepared or the attack of the sodomists for now they are - respectible? Saba Authorities: OC rape suspects left calling card NBC4.TV SANTA ANA , July 16 - An ex-tagging gang's penchant for leaving its moniker at crime scenes provided the clue that led to five arrests for the July 3 rapes of two girls and the beating of their boyfriends, authorities said Monday. Erick Oswaldo Rivera, 19, of Anaheim, Cuauhtemoc Torres, 19, of Orange, and a 16-year-old and two 15-year-olds were arrested in connection with the attack. The victims were a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl and their teen-age boyfriends, said Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona. Authorities believe Rivera and the 16-year-old were involved in the rapes. The palm prints of two adult suspects were found on the red Mazda the victims took to remote Black Star Canyon, according to investigators. "We received a variety of statements and admissions from everyone involved," said Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff Department. "All five were involved by either holding the male victims or the females." An anonymous donor who heard about the savagery of the attacks offered a $25,000 reward. But it was a female sheriff's deputy who saw "LTK" -- a virtual calling card left after the crime -- on a gate just 50 yards from the crime scene, which helped crack the case, Carona said. "It shows they are not very bright to start with, and it shows they are pretty brazen," Carona said. He described the three older suspects as members of a gang -- it operates in the Orange and Anaheim areas, is made up of Hispanics and Asians and is not territorially based -- and the two 15-year-olds as initiates. The group "started as a tagging gang," then "transitioned to other things," Carona said. They left the moniker as a "bragging right, and also that's what they like to do." "What turned this case was a patrol deputy doing what she is supposed to do, noticing some changes in the environment," he said. For her protection, the deputy was not identified. The victims, who were on a furtive date, were accosted about 2 a.m. as they returned to the Mazda after a walk in a desolate area of Black Star Canyon, Amormino said. Carona said the five suspects came upon the car while it was parked, and stripped parts from it. The group returned to take more parts, and by then the four teens had returned. They noticed that all the windows on the vehicle were smashed, and some articles had been thrown on the ground. The boys were hit in the head with rocks and kicked in the head. One suffered a fractured skull, but both youths are now on the road to recovery, Amormino said. The girls were driven to a rock quarry off Santiago Canyon Road, where they raped, authorities said. Amormino said the gang, allegedly headed by Rivera, has about a dozen members. "It's a small gang with very few members," he said. The graffiti was scrawled some time after the crimes were committed, and the deputy noticed it last Wednesday and passed the information on to investigators working on the case. Once the graffiti was linked to a gang operating in Orange, sheriff's investigators learned from police in Orange that Rivera drove a white 1987 Toyota hatchback like the victims had described, and a stakeout was started, Carona said. The victims also told authorities that one of the car's headlight, which was damaged, was noticeably dimmer than the other, Amormino said. On Friday, Rivera was arrested in the car after being stopped, Carona said. With him were Torres and two others. But only Rivera was arrested, and that was for an unrelated probation violation, Carona said. Additional investigation led to the 15-year-olds, who were questioned late Friday, Carona said. "They admitted participating in the assaults and robberies and said they were witnesses to the rapes," Carona said, adding that they identified Rivera as a suspect in the sexual assaults. Investigators found Torres again and this time took him into custody, and the 16-year-old was arrested in Norwalk, Carona said. The sheriff said the reward did not factor in the arrests, but did raise public awareness, although investigators got a lot of leads that did not pan out. Carona said investigators have forensic evidence, such as semen, hair and fingernail scrapings that are still being processed. "We would have caught them no matter what," Carona said. "This just hastened it ... I can tell you that this was nothing more than some great, old-fashioned police work." The adults were booked into the Orange County Jail and the others were placed in Juvenile Hall, he said. Carona said the five were placed in a lineup, and "Yes, they were picked out." Black Star Canyon is known for nocturnal hikers, drinkers and couples looking for romantic getaways. The youths had left their homes without their parents' permission, met at a mall, then gone to the canyon just after midnight, according to sheriff's officials. In the meantime, the boys dragged their bloodied bodies to Silverado Canyon Road and flagged down help. When found, the girls who had been left naked at Irvine Lake were wearing what they could scrounge from roadside trash, Amormino said. They got to a pay phone and called 911. Current Conditions 61° HIGH 78° LOW 62° »Top Stories•Local Sports•Local Weather •Hot From Hollywood •Your L.A. Portal •Seismo-Cam Free E-News Alerts Get breaking news delivered to your desktop and daily E-News alerts. Choose more local news from participating MSNBC affiliates Question or comment for our newsteam? Send us an email MSNBC is optimized for: • Microsoft Internet Explorer • Windows Media Player• MSNBC Terms, Conditions and Privacy © 2001 Cover | News | Business | Sports | Local | Health | Technology | Living & Travel TV News | Opinions | Weather | Comics | Information Center | Help | News Tools | Write Us | Terms, Conditions, and Privacy <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
