| Yuma Gang Leader Finally Out of Site
A well-known gang leader has been taken off the streets.
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After years of effort on the part of law enforcement and the Yuma County Attorney's Office, a Yuma gang leader is behind bars and a neighborhood is feeling safe once more.
Raymond Parra effectively terrorized the Carver Neighborhood Weed and Seed Site, taking away its residents' sense of safety and well-being. Parra's house and street, located in the area adjacent to Carver, were the scenes of violent incidents and drug activity. Parra's well-known and feared gang consisted of younger males, many of them in their teens or early twenties. Parra, who is in his early thirties, befriended these youth—inviting them to parties, supplying them with drugs, allowing them to stay at his house—and also cultivated the friendship of many law-abiding adults. For a time, he was even on a local softball team.
"He had two faces: one was the friendly, nice guy, and the other was a violent, intimidating drug dealer and gang leader," said Mary White, the Deputy County Attorney who worked on the case. Parra had the reputation of being untouchable for many years; when incidents occurred at his residence or where he was seen, his associates would take the blame and victims would not make statements.
According to White, Parra's removal has decreased drug and gang activity in the entire area. White is on both the Weed and Seed Steering Committee and the Law Enforcement/Community Policing subcommittee, and she kept everyone apprised of developments in the case. White and the city prosecutor, who was also on the Steering Committee and subcommittee, compared notes at the meetings and took ideas back to their offices.
The County Attorney's Office and the City of Yuma Police Department—both of which are partners in the Weed and Seed initiative—also joined forces with other state and local law enforcement agencies. "There was great collaboration, though it was unofficial," White said. "Everyone cooperated, and we got someone who was a major problem in the community put away."
Maria Gonzalez, Carver Weed and Seed's site coordinator, believes the success of the Parra case has encouraged all the agencies to be more involved with each other. The police gang unit worked very hard on the Parra case, she said. Weed and Seed pays for those officers' overtime, she noted, and she praised their work and said it was desperately needed.
Eventually, the complex prosecution—which involved filing two separate cases alleging drug crimes, crimes of violence, felon in possession of a shotgun, and obtaining guns by means of fraud—resulted in Parra pleading guilty to three felonies. The cases involved numerous witnesses and more than 500 items of potential evidence, including photos, drugs, drug paraphernalia, and guns.
The Parra case taught many in the Weed and Seed site that it is best to wait out situations and thoroughly investigate before arresting someone, Gonzalez said. Without patience and collaboration there could have been grave consequences, she said, such as prosecutors not being properly prepared for court or sensitive information getting back to individuals being investigated, allowing them either to hide or to get rid of evidence.
Parra's gang is no longer feared in Yuma County. Gang members still commit crimes, but they are so scattered that they are no longer feared as the once notorious gang "The Parras." Gonzalez does not see any evidence of a new gang trying to take hold of the area, either. "I think the neighbors are aware of their surroundings and any suspicious person or activity would have been reported by now."
"I do not hear the rumors that were so prevalent before Ray Parra was arrested," Gonzalez said. "Actually you don't hear about them at all. I guess the neighborhood is finally at peace."
For more information, contact:
Mary White
Deputy County Attorney
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