Gangs on the rise here...

[Lucinda F. Boyd]

The presence of gangs is growing locally, Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry said Saturday, and he fears the problem will get worse if the community does not pull together to fight it.

The May 28 robbery and slaying at BG’s Express #2 in the county, which left one store clerk dead and another wounded, is one of several recent incidents that might be related to gang activity, Perry said.

Although he said he couldn’t say conclusively that the shooting was the work of gang members, the sheriff said there is “a strong possibility it is gang-related.”

The same is true of a January slaying at the intersection of Hobson and Irisburg roads and a drive-by shooting in the Carver area in late March, the sheriff said. No one was injured in the Carver incident.

Perry did not elaborate about why police believe the incidents are gang-related, but he said officers know gang activity is happening here.

“We have seen it growing, and we have been telling people that it has been growing,” Perry said. “This is the presence of it. ... This is gangs trying to enter our community.”

Perry said he believes there are one or two gangs in the area.

The motivation of a gang, he said, is to “control the drug business.”

Gangs recruit juveniles to work for them, he said.

“The recruitment for gangs, we can start watching it in middle school and high school,” Perry said. Youth between the ages of 12 and 16 are the most vulnerable to being “influenced, persuaded or drug in,” he said.

Perry said gang activity tends to increase when the weather gets warm.

“For the last few years, we’ve seen a flurry of activity in the spring,” he said. “Warm weather brings this problem around moreso when people can start standing outside. Most of the gangs want to be in a place where they can be seen, can walk to and can stand on corners.”

The sheriff said he believes gangs that are active locally have come into the area from Danville and North Carolina, and perhaps larger cities.

“I’m not trying to throw the panic button completely,” Perry said. However, he said, this is the time for action.

“There needs to be awareness in our community and there needs to be some action taken to change behavior,” he said. “Law enforcement is fighting it, but law enforcement will not prevail if society as a whole doesn’t stand behind (police) and fight it also.”

Perry said community members, particularly parents and those who deal with youth, must work to teach children “moral and ethical behavior” when they are young.

Members of the public, churches and other organizations must take part in fighting gang activity, he said, or the problem is likely to get worse.

“We have to have the community’s help,” he said.

Perry said members of the community were “pretty crucial” in helping police gather information that led to the arrest Friday of a 17-year-old male in connection with the BG’s Express case. That teen, whose name was not released due to his age, was charged with first-degree murder, malicious wounding, robbery and three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Perry said dozens of calls came in through Crimestoppers, an anonymous tip line, and many of them contained good information.

“This time, I think what you have is people that were shocked by what happened,” he said. Some people are becoming more aware of gangs locally, and “they don’t want to see our community turn into this either.”

Perry urged members of the public to come forward with any information related to the BG’s Express incident. Officers also are seeking information about the location of 19-year-old Dominique Quemain Hylton of Bassett, a “person of interest” in the case.

Hylton, who is wanted on unrelated charges in the city, is being sought for questioning in the BG’s incident, Perry said.

Perry said officers will continue working hard until they believe they have all the responsible parties in custody. And even then, the caution will not end, he said.

“You still have other people that can do this at any time,” Perry said.

Incidents such as the one at BG’s haven’t been “a common occurrence (locally), and we like to think of our area as a safe place,” he continued. “But I guess this strikes the sense of security, when something like this happens.”

Anyone with any information about this incident or Hylton’s whereabouts is asked to call the Henry County Sheriff’s Office or the Martinsville Police Department at 638-8751.

The Crimestoppers Program offers reward money up to $1,000 for information related to crime. The nature of the crime and the substance of the information provided determine the amount of reward paid.

The Crimestoppers number is 63-CRIME (632-7463)..