Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods
A mural referring to the war between the Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods and the Grape Street Watts Crips.
Founding locationWatts, Los Angeles, California, United States
Years active1969 - present
TerritoryNickerson Gardens
EthnicityAfrican American
Membership (est.)2,000[1]
Criminal activitiesDrug trafficking, robbery, extortion, murder, burglary, identification theft, car theft, kidnapping
RivalsGrape Street Watts Crips, West Side Piru,[2] 118 East Coast Crips[3][4]

The Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods,[5][6] also known as the Bounty Hunter Bloods, is a predominantly African American street gang situated in the Nickerson Gardens public housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles.

History

The gang was originally established in 1969 but became well established by 1972. Whilst today it is a set of the Bloods, it was originally known as the Green Jackets. Gary Barker and Bobby Jack are believed to be the set's founders.[7]

The gang is perhaps most known for its longstanding rivalry with the Grape Street Watts Crips which has been described by gang experts as "the most violent and long lasting feud between two gangs that are in the Watts area".[8] In 1992, the Watts truce was declared which saw a rapid decline in violence between the two street gangs. However, by 2005, the truce had reportedly imploded with the homicide rate increasing to at least seven.[9]

In 1993, Regis Deon Thomas, a member of the Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods, shot and killed two Compton Police Department officers during a traffic stop. They were the first Compton police officers to be killed in the line of duty in the department's 65-year history.[10]

In 1997, members of the 118 East Coast Crips shot a school bus in the hopes of killing members of the Bounty Hunter Bloods, killing 17-year-old bystander Corie Williams instead.[3][4]

In 2003, shots were fired at Los Angeles Police Department patrol officers in two incidents in the Nickerson Gardens projects. In 2000, the FBI convicted 30 Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods members on federal drug violations for the distribution and conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.[11] An injunction was imposed on the gang in 2004 which limited the movements of members.[12]

In 2013, O.F.T.B. rapper and Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods affiliate, Kevin “Flipside” White, was shot dead by alleged members of the Grape Street Watts Crips.[13]

Overview

The gang is situated within Nickerson Gardens, the largest government housing complex west of the Mississippi River.[14] The complex forms the majority of its territory which is the largest of any African-American street gang in Watts.[5] The gang has over 2,000 documented members and is subdivided into numerous subsets and cliques, including the Lot Boys, Block Boys, Bell Haven, Ace Line, Duece Line, Tray Line, Four Line and Five Line.[1][5] Like all Bloods gangs, the Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods affiliate themselves with the color red. Its members tattoo themselves with the letters "B" and "H" which refer to "Bounty Hunters" and also use the letters in hand signs.[1]

Its members have been known to attend Centennial High School in Compton.[15]

In addition to its feud with the Grape Street Watts Crips, the gang is also known to feud West Side Piru, which is based in nearby Compton,[2] and 118 East Coast Crips.[3][4]

There are other street gangs across the United States which claim the same name, such as the 59 Bounty Hunter Bloods in Houston, Texas[16] and the Bounty Hunter Bloods in Detroit, Michigan.[17]

Notable members

References

  1. ^ a b c "THE PEOPLE v. BOBBY WATTS". FindLaw. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "THE PEOPLE v. DERRICK WASHINGTON". FindLaw. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Berry, Steve (21 June 1998). "Slayings of Girl, Cosby Again Joined in Time". LA Times. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Hull, Tim (31 October 2013). "Witness's Background Upends Gang Conviction". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "History of Watts". Watts Neighborhood Council. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  6. ^ "The Neighborhood Project: Watts". LA List. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  7. ^ Covey, Herbert C. (June 23, 2015). Crips and Bloods : a guide to an American subculture. ABC-CLIO. p. 160. ISBN 978-0313399305.
  8. ^ "People v. Hawkins CA2/8, B254416 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015)". Court Listener. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  9. ^ "War and Peace in Watts". LA Weekly. 14 July 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Hundreds Mourn Compton Officer : Tribute: Friends remember James Wayne MacDonald as a compassionate person who had long wanted to be a policeman". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. February 28, 1993.
  11. ^ "LAPD And FBI Crack Down On Violent LA Street Gang". Los Angeles Police Department. 20 January 2004. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Timeline: South Central Los Angeles". Independent Lens. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Kevin White, 44". Los Angeles Times. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Inside the Nickerson Gardens Projects with Rapper Jay Rock: "They Can Call Anyone a Terrorist, a Gangbanger, and Put Cameras in Your Neighborhood."". LA Weekly. 17 February 2011.
  15. ^ "AMADO v. GONZALEZ". FindLaw. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Gang: 59 BOUNTY HUNTERS". Stop Houston Gangs. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  17. ^ "Authorities: Leader Of Detroit's Bounty Hunter Bloods Gang Gets 30 Years In Prison". CBS Detroit. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  18. ^ "Five Things To Know About Jay Rock". Hit Up Angle.
  19. ^ "THE MARATHON CONTINUES: HOW NIPSEY HUSSLE HELPED BRIDGE THE DIVIDES OF SOUTH LOS ANGELES". L.A. Taco.
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