Conneaut Lake ‘gang’ meeting moving to bigger venue

By Ryan Smith

07/02/08 July 01, 2008 11:35 pm

— CONNEAUT LAKE — The back room of a downtown restaurant won’t hold the number of people planning to attend a meeting today to discuss alleged “gang” activity at Conneaut Lake.
The 7 p.m. public meeting instead will be at Conneaut Lake Presbyterian Church, formerly Fifth Street Presbyterian Church, 145 S. Fifth St. It was originally to be at Conneaut Lake’s Pizza Hut, but organizer Mark Damratoski said there’s been an overwhelming response since a related story was recently published in the Tribune.
Conneaut Lake Regional Police Department has been receiving reports about the “gang,” reportedly identifying itself as the “814 High Rollin’ Crips,” since around the end of the school year, department Sgt. Greg Nichols said recently. He said the group’s most outright activities were the recent spray-painting of numerous downtown businesses with gang insignia and profanities.
Damratoski said there have also been threats of physical violence against young people entering the group’s “territory.”
Other parents have expressed concerns about weekly teen dances being recently canceled, apparently in response to the “gang” activity.
Nichols recently said the department plans to have an officer in attendance at the meeting, and said anyone with information about the group and its activities should call the department at 382-4364.
The Crips reportedly first appeared as a street gang in Los Angeles around the late 1960s and have been most known for a bitter and often-violent rivalry with another urban gang, the Bloods.
The gang is also known for being extremely territorial and disapproving of any “wannabes” attempting to carry the Crips name. One Tribune online reader, “Omar from L.A.,” posted this comment Monday: “Crips in Pennsylvania? Nah, come out west, young bulls. U better be careful with that name you’re using ... Don’t make us fly to cow country! Trust me ... U don’t want that ... I’ll be watchin’ from afar.”

YOU CAN GO
A public meeting to discuss recent alleged “gang” activity at Conneaut Lake is today at 7 p.m. at Conneaut Lake Presbyterian Church, formerly Fifth Street Presbyterian Church, 145 S. Fifth St.