OTTAWA COUNTY (WHTC-AM/FM) — The 2013 gang bust in the Holland area made “a huge dent” in gang activity, says Ottawa County Sheriff’s Capt. Mark Bennett, but there’s been a slight uptick, lately.
It’s not a crisis, he said, and police aim at nipping the uptick before it grows.
Saturday’s shooting death of a 14-year-old, Troy “T.J.” Wells Jr. after a hallway confrontation at the Hampton Inn in Holland Township is, according to police investigators, the result of gang activity.
Bennett said Sheriff Steve Kempker has been meeting with community groups and county authorities work with city police. Parents and area residents can help, too, he said.
“We need the community, as a whole, to help us do our job, to help us solve crime, to help us keep people safe,” he said, adding that police have been getting anonymous tips that may lead them to Wells’ alleged killer, Juan Sandro Cabrera, 18, of Holland, who police describe as “armed and dangerous.”
One way to help is be on the lookout for signs of petty crime, often an entre to gangs or even cliques of teens: tagging buildings with spraypaint; wearing the same colors on a consistent basis, showing hand signals, and the like. Bennett declined to get specific about which gangs use which colors, symbols, hand gestures, or clothing. On the one hand, he said, it’s not useful to showcase any particular gang. On the other he said, doing so could result in more violence.
He said detectives have been “working around the clock” on this murder case. Anyone with information on Cabrera’s whereabouts is asked to contact Silent Observer at 877-88-SILENT or visit mosotips.com
