St. Louis CofCC Blog

KMGH-ABC-7 Denver:

Parents Fight Over Which Gang Toddler Should Join

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father’s arrest, Commerce City police said Thursday.

On Saturday, Joseph Manzanares stormed into the Hollywood Video store where his girlfriend worked, threatened to kill her and knocked over several video displays and even a computer, Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval said.

After he ran out of the store, police were called and the 19-year-old was arrested at his home.

His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing about the upbringing of their son and which gang he should belong to. The teen mother, who is black, is a member of the Crips. Manzanares is Hispanic and belongs to the Westside Ballers gang, the woman said.

“They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised. Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would ‘claim,’” Sandoval said.

Nothing about the kid being rescued by DFS/CPS? In spite of the fact that both his father and mother are self-admitted gang members, and admit they want their son to join a gang. If the kid wanted to join the gang, and the parents would have spanked him for doing so, to dissuade him perpetually from that notion, DFS/CPS would have swooped in like ducks on a june bug. If these two wanted to adopt a baby, their application would become a perennial joke among adoptive services professionals. Maybe the only hope for the kid having a stable upbringing is if the Crips and the Westside Ballers merge.

Note that the kid is 4 and daddy is 19, do the math. No telling how old mama is.

UPDATE 4/12: The mother is currently 19 as well, according to the Denver Post.