David Taber
Warring gang members—some clad in jewelry saying “JP Inc.”—are responsible for 22 crimes in the past eight months, including a November triple murder at the Same Old Place restaurant at 622 Centre St., police say.
New light was shed on the ongoing feud between gangs based on Mozart Street and Boylston Street in an affidavit by Boston Police Department Youth Violence Strike Force officer Manuel Blas, who is based at Jamaica Plain’s E-13 Police Station.
According to Blas’s affidavit for an allegedly gang-related federal gun case, a copy of which was obtained by the Gazette, the feud has resulted in 22 crimes since last July. Most of those incidents have taken place in JP, but some happened in other Boston neighborhoods and one killing took place in the Dominican Republic.
Blas describes the level of alleged activity related to the Mozart/Boylston dispute as “staggering” and suggests there was an up-tick in feud-related incidents in 2010.
Incidents listed in the affidavit include arrests of alleged gang members with weapons and drugs, reports of car chases, shots fired and one report of profane graffiti denigrating the Mozart Street gang on an alleged Mozart members’ car.
The affidavit also reports that a man was “slashed twice” after being approached at the Jackson Square T Station and asked if he was “Mozart.” The affidavit identifies the man, but does not make it clear if he is a suspected Mozart gang member.
The most serious allegations against Mozart and Boylston gang members, include the Same Old Place incident—a gun and knife fight that left the three participants dead and a passerby wounded—and the October slaying of alleged Boylston Street gang associate Luis Torres Boylston Street.
The affidavit says that a suspected Mozart Street gang member, Amin Marte, was shot and killed in the Dominican Republic in November of last year.
As the Gazette previously reported, police believe the rivalry between the Mozart and Boylston streets gangs stems from a feud that began in the Dominican Republic.
Blas said in his affidavit that “cases against Mozart associates have had to be dismissed when victims or other witnesses refused to testify.”
The affidavit also includes pointers on how to recognize Mozart Street gang members. “Mozart associates frequently wear Minnesota Twins garb…or other clothing emblazoned with an “M”…[and] sometimes also wear jewelry or other items emblazoned with the term ‘JP Inc.’” Blas says.
A picture of a piece of “JP Inc.” jewelry included with the affidavit shows a large gold emblem that resembles a police badge hanging from a gold chain. “JP Inc.” is written in blockish raised lettering.