People v. DeRosas CA4/3

FACTS

On the evening of October 13, 2011, Gary Montoya was collecting recyclables from a trash can outside a Laundromat near the La Carreta Market on Hewes Street in the City of Orange. Defendant and a younger male approached Gary. Defendant wore a white shirt, while the “kid” with him wore a long sleeve dark flannel shirt. The kid was slightly taller than defendant. Gary knew defendant by the moniker “Wicked.” Defendant had “hit up” Gary many times before. Gary saw a bulge under defendant’s white shirt, which Gary presumed was a gun. Defendant asked Gary where he was from. Gary said, “Modena,” meaning Varrio Modena Locos, a criminal street gang. Defendant said, “Puro Pearl,” meaning Pearl Street, Modena’s rival gang. The younger man said something about the police, and the pair took off. Gary surreptitiously followed them on his bicycle. When Gary turned the corner, he saw the men standing in the middle of Pearl Street near Hewes Street. Gary’s brother, David, and David’s girlfriend, Irma, were coming up Hewes Street and crossed the street toward a convenience store. Defendant and the other man yelled “Pearl Street and all this other shit.” According to Gary’s pretrial police…