Family members say a shooting at their daughter’s apartment
Friday was gang retaliation because they spoke to the Hollister
Police Department.
Family members say a shooting at their daughter’s apartment Friday was gang retaliation because they spoke to the Hollister Police Department.
Hollister resident Leticia Rodriguez-Rivas’ said her family is being targeted by gangs because she told Hollister Police that a Norteño gang member committed one of the crimes her son was arrested for two months ago. Her 16-year-old son was arrested for a number of crimes including assault.
The shooting at her daughter’s apartment at 201 San Benito St. was in retaliation for talking to police, and because her daughter is the wife of an incarcerated Sureño gang member, Rodriguez-Rivas said. Five shots were fired at the apartment at 1:39 a.m. on Friday morning. No one was injured, and police have no suspects.
They also don’t feel they are being treated fairly by police because of the family’s past gang ties, her husband Nick Rivas said.
“We want people to see what’s really going on here,” Rivas said. “The situation people don’t understand is that if you’re Latino… everything is decided over gangs.”
Rodriguez-Rivas believes her son is innocent of the crimes he was arrested for and was an easy target for the police because they believe he is wrapped up in gang violence – stemming from the actions of her son-in-law, she said.
“My son was never in a gang,” she said. “How can you compare him? They’re only related by marriage.”
Rodriguez-Rivas’ assertions of her son’s innocence are to be expected, said Hollister Police Capt. Richard Vasquez. But the police department’s arrest of her son was based on legitimate evidence, not discrimination, he said.
“She’s entitled to her opinion,” Vasquez said. “The officers base their arrests on evidence gathered and it’s up to the courts to decide who’s innocent and who’s guilty.”
If gang members believe the family is talking to the police, retaliation is very possible, said Hollister Police Sgt. James Weathers, who is the head of the department’s gang task force.
But the police are positive Rivas’ son committed the crimes he was arrested for, and Weathers said he has never had any contact with the family about their son’s case.
“I’m in charge of the gang unit, so I don’t know who they’ve been talking to,” Weathers said. “We believe (their son) did it or we wouldn’t have arrested him. We’ve got better things to do…. We don’t have to make stuff up about people.”
