Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

L.A. County Sheriff's Gangs: Lynwood Vikings

The Lynwood Vikings was a groupin Los Angeles, based at the now-defunct Lynwood station of the LosAngeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), whose members weredeputy sheriffs in the LASD. Its members have included Paul Tanaka,deputy sheriff and LASD second-in-command to sheriff, and Lee Baca.After lawsuits repeatedly surfaced concerning the group's activities,the Vikings were described by federal judge Terry Hatter as a"neo-Nazi, white supremacist gang" engaged inracially motivated hostility. The 1992 Kolts Commission reportstated there was a lack of evidence of racist deputy gangs but thatsome Lynwood Viking deputies did engage in brutality and gang-likeactivity. Other sources have described the Vikings as a socialorganization.

Background

The first LASD gang the Little Devilswas founded at the East LA Station in 1971 and had an overwhelminglywhite membership among deputies who patrolled black and Latinocommunities. The Lennox-based Grim Reapers and the Regulators atCentury station are more recent gangs. Other LASD gangs have includedthe Hats, the Jump Out Boys, the 2000 Boys, and the 3000 Boys.

The 1992 Kolts Commission on policebrutality in L.A. found that cliques like the Vikings were foundespecially in areas with large minority populations, but did not"conclusively demonstrate the existence of racist deputy gangs." Sheriff Lee Baca, while objecting to police gang behaviors, hasstated that banning them would be unconstitutional.

History

The Vikings are considered one of theearly notorious LASD groups. Among the Viking tattoos is the symbol"998," which stands for "officer-involvedshooting," indicating that the officer has shot someone.Former LASD under-sheriff Jerry Harper described the 998 tattoos as"a mark of pride." Lynwood station possessed a mapof the district in the shape of Africa, and its walls held racistcartoons depicting black men.

In 1988, one year after joining theVikings, deputy Paul Tanaka was named in a wrongful death suit thatthe LASD settled for almost $1 million; the case involved Tanaka'sshooting of a young Korean man. In the following year, Baca sentCaptain Bert Cueva, an officer of Latino ancestry, to "stampout this Viking phenomenon;" Cueva was unsuccessful howeverand left his post in 1992.

The Vikings first rose to prominence in1990, when misconduct litigation accused the LASD and its clubs ofracism and racist violence. Lawyers suing the LASD stated that theirclients were beaten, shot or harassed, and demanded to know ifalleged perpetrators had Vikings tattoos on their ankles.

Deputy Mike Osborne told the LosAngeles Times that invitation to join the Vikings was consideredprestigious, but also meant "you keep your mouth shut andobey the code of silence" about illegal activity by otherdeputies. In 1996, Osborne and his wife deputy Aurora Mellado retiredafter testifying about police corruption. They and their childrenwere later shot at in their home by what Osborne believes weredisgruntled sheriff's deputies.

In 1996, a federal judge[who?] orderedthat the LASD pay $9 million in fines for lawsuits caused by theVikings. Sheriff Sherman Block opposed the judge's decision, callingit "irrational and wrong," and stated that noevidence existed demonstrating that the Vikings was a racist group. When Baca confronted deputies about Viking membership in 1997, LASDsuperiors cautioned him against angering officers and provoking abacklash.

In 2011, Francisco Carillo Jr., aprisoner accused and convicted 20 years earlier of murder, sued theLASD and one of its deputies, Craig Ditsch, saying he had been framedby the Lynwood Vikings. Carrillo complained that the deputy andfellow Vikings had intimidated a key witness into making falsestatements. He was released in 2013, after witnesses recanted.