The Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods,
also known as the Bounty Hunter Bloods, is a predominantly African American street gang situated in the
Nickerson Gardens
Nickerson Gardens is a 1,066-unit public housing apartment complex at 1590 East 114th Street in Watts, Los Angeles, California. Nickerson Gardens is the largest public housing development west of the Mississippi River and was the first home of ma ...
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
The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includ ...
, it was originally known as the Green Jackets. Gary Barker and Bobby Jack are believed to be the set's founders.
The gang is perhaps most known for its longstanding rivalry with the
Grape Street Watts Crips
The Grape Street Watts Crips is a Crip subset based in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The gang's rivalry with the Bounty Hunter Bloods has been described as being "the most violent and long lasting feud between two gangs that are in the W ...
which has been described by gang experts as “the most violent and long lasting feud between two gangs that are in the Watts area”. In 1992, the
Watts truce
The Watts truce was a 1992 peace agreement among rival street gangs in Los Angeles, California, declared in the neighborhood of Watts. The truce was reached just days before the 1992 Los Angeles riots and, although not universally adhered to, was ...
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.
In 1993,
Regis Deon Thomas
Regis Deon Thomas (born June 16, 1970) is an American convicted murderer and Bloods gang member who was sentenced to death for the 1993 murders of Kevin Michael Burrell and James Wayne MacDonald, two officers in the Compton Police Department who ...
, a member of the Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods, shot and killed two
Compton Police Department
The Compton Police Department was the municipal law enforcement agency for the city of Compton, California until it was disbanded by the City Council in September 2000. The Compton City Council then contracted with the County of Los Angeles for ...
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.
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.
In 2003, shots were fired at Los Angeles Police Department patrol officers in two incidents in the
Nickerson Gardens
Nickerson Gardens is a 1,066-unit public housing apartment complex at 1590 East 114th Street in Watts, Los Angeles, California. Nickerson Gardens is the largest public housing development west of the Mississippi River and was the first home of ma ...
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. An injunction was imposed on the gang in 2004 which limited the movements of members.
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.
Overview
The gang is situated within
Nickerson Gardens
Nickerson Gardens is a 1,066-unit public housing apartment complex at 1590 East 114th Street in Watts, Los Angeles, California. Nickerson Gardens is the largest public housing development west of the Mississippi River and was the first home of ma ...
, the largest government housing complex west of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
.
The complex forms the majority of its territory which is the largest of any African-American street gang in Watts.
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.
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.
Its members have been known to attend
Centennial High School in
Compton
Compton may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district
* Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton
* Compton, Que ...
.
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,
and 118 East Coast Crips.
There are other street gangs across the United States which claim the same name, such as the 59 Bounty Hunter Bloods in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
and the Bounty Hunter Bloods in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
.
Notable members
*
Jay Rock
Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1983), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. He signed to indie label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), in 2005. Under TDE, Rock secured a rec ...
*
O.F.T.B.
*
Regis Deon Thomas
Regis Deon Thomas (born June 16, 1970) is an American convicted murderer and Bloods gang member who was sentenced to death for the 1993 murders of Kevin Michael Burrell and James Wayne MacDonald, two officers in the Compton Police Department who ...
References
Organizations established in 1969
1969 establishments in California
Bloods sets
African-American organized crime groups
Watts, Los Angeles
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