As police investigate the fatal shooting of two men in Corona on April 9, seven Guardian Angels patrolled the streets to deter crime and the keep the neighborhood safe.
“I received this from Assemblymember [Jose] Peralta’s office,” said Arnaldo “13” Salinas, senior director and an original member of the Guardian Angels, holding a letter in his hand. “It’s the locations of places that we are going to stop by tonight.”
Peralta’s letter spoke of the murders of Juan “Mono” Gonzalez, 20 and Edgar Fernandez, 19, both expectant fathers, gunned down at 12:50 a.m. at 109-21 54th Avenue in Corona in what appeared to be a gang-related incident. According to the letter, the community had phoned in reports of gang activity in other areas.
Salinas, 47, pointed out the heightened police presence near Roosevelt Avenue and 103rd Street on a rainy Friday night about 9 p.m., just one night after the double murder. A mobile Queens NYPD Command Center had parked underneath the No. 7 train, and its flood light completely illuminated the Corona Plaza triangle. Clad in their signature red beret and red jackets, as the Guardian Angels began their walk south on 103rd Street, a 110th Precinct police cruiser drove by.
“103rd and Roosevelt used to be where you could get your ‘social security’ papers, so we’d just stand there,” said Salinas, about the prominent sale of illegal documents in the neighborhood. “But now, ‘all of the potatoes have scattered’ to the other avenues from 98th Street to 108th Street.”
As Salinas meandered ahead turning right on 43rd Avenue and National Street, the other Guardian Angels – “EQ,” “Knowledge,” “Beast,” and “Little Beast,” – walked a measured step behind and surveyed the area. “Tarantula” and “Zeek” drove by and joined the street patrol within a few minutes. Each time Salinas stopped, the Safety Patrol, which is the rank of these Guardian Angels, either formed a circle or stood up against the wall, all the time maintaining their vigilance on the streets.
“Our goal is to let people see that six to seven mostly Latino men care enough about our community to do something about it,” Salinas said about the patrol that night. “Just the fact that we are out here is a visual deterrent.”
A few minutes later, a police van stopped Salinas on Roosevelt and 93rd to tell him about some happening on 103rd Street and 32nd Avenue. “They are not supposed to tell us, but sometimes they help. A lot of police are former Guardian Angels. Now we are respected.”
During the 15 years of the Angels, six members have lost their lives. Salinas himself has been stabbed with an ice pick, shot at, and suffered broken bones. He still goes out on patrols. “Making a difference, that’s how we get paid.”
At 37th Avenue, the patrol began their walk east towards two of the locations listed on Assemblymember Peralta’s letter, Junction Boulevard and 108th Street.
The gang violence in the area “was off the Richter scale,” said Salinas. “I’ve been in some of the worst neighborhoods in the world, but most communities are good. They are just subjugated by the people with guns with fear. But we [the community] outnumber them.”
By the time the Guardian Angels reached 108th Street and then turned back towards the McDonald’s on Corona Plaza completing the first leg of their tour, the quiet of the night kicked in. “I’m shocked it’s this calm tonight. Friday and Saturday nights are busy nights,” Salinas said. “Or maybe it’s because it’s Good Friday. Even the mafia respected Sundays.”
Click here to read the dramatic story of a former gang member.
