Pubdate: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 Source: Daily Iowan, The (IA Edu) Copyright: 2001 The Daily Iowan Contact: http://www.dailyiowan.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/937 Author: Grant Schulte FROM HORSE THEFT TO BANK ROBBERY TO DRUGS They came in the 1800s to steal horses. They almost pulled off a bank heist in the 1930s. Now they sell drugs on Iowa City's suburban streets. Small gangs have worked in the city's shadows for more than a century in independent, isolated groups. Organized clusters of thieves plagued Iowa City during the 1800s by stirring up trouble and stealing horses, common crimes in America at the time. Various ethnic groups formed informal gangs to protect themselves in the 19th century, said Kevin Knoot, a librarian at the Iowa State Historical Society. Neighborhoods of Irish, German, and Czech families fought regularly with each other, he said. By the time the Great Depression of the 1930s reached its peak, leaving millions unemployed, gangs often targeted banks, said Bob Sierk, the FirstStar Bank president. The closest Eastern Iowa ever came to an old-fashioned gang was when the famous bank robber John Dillinger and his men allegedly camped in a hotel in the 1930s, plotting to rob what is now the FirstStar Bank, then located at the intersection of College and Clinton streets. The gang reportedly hoped to hold the bank up and access the bank's safe, he said. "And back in those days, escape across the state border was easy because no federal organizations would stop you," said Dick Summerwill, the chairman of Iowa State Bank & Trust. "No one would ever follow you beyond the state line." Dillinger's plan was foiled when law-enforcement officials caught wind of the gang's presence in town and prepared a "welcome" for Dillinger around the bank, Sierk said. Dillinger never showed. His rumored presence and the Depression halted the construction of banks in Iowa City for a decade because of the fear of robbery. By the 1970s, small bands of criminals were committing lesser offenses, said Ralph Cox, a retired Iowa City police officer. "Gangs were always out there," he said. "They'd do burglaries together and sell off the property they took. Many gang members at the time came from the coasts." Cox said Iowa City gangs have grown considerably since his tenure and are more sophisticated and organized -- a trend he attributes to Iowa City's expansion. Drug dealing has been the dominate gang activity for the past 10 years, police said. Many gang members blend with the city's high-school population and don't often fit gang stereotypes. Two alleged gang-related incidents occurred September and October 1996 at City High School, 1900 Morningside Drive. Three reported members of the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples jumped out of a car and began beating a white male student on Sept. 19 as he left the school. The three alleged members, who school officials said were not City High students, left the victim with bruises and abrasions. Less than a month later, on Oct. 7, a female City High student discovered racial epithets scrawled on her locker. Meanwhile, Iowa City police said they received parental verification that gangs were recruiting in the area and that gang members often blended into the student body, making them difficult to detect. Local officials at the time estimated that approximately 200 gang members or associates lived in the Iowa City area, but Coralville police Officer Jeff Barkhoff said the situation was "fixable" and under control. But their numbers peaked in 1998, when Iowa City police began routine patrols of the Wetherby neighborhood after shots were fired on Broadway in June and a teenager was shot on Taylor Street in May of that year. Gang activity in Iowa City virtually disappeared after increased police presence in the area south of Highway 6 between Keokuk and Sycamore streets, actions that members of the Wetherby Friends and Neighborhood Association said improved their area "100 percent." But when police refocused their attention elsewhere at the request of other neighborhoods, gangs returned to the area "stronger than ever," said Jerry Hansen, the president of the Wetherby group. Just three months ago, on Sept. 22, police arrested a self-confessed gang member for intending to use an assault rifle in retaliation for a gang-related assault outside the IMU. Police spotted Robert Jones, 23, in the company of Iowa City resident Darvell Miller, 21, and Cedar Rapids resident Michelle Pernicka, 32, Sept. 9 allegedly carrying a concealed SKS assault rifle in Pernicka's car. Police arrested Miller and Pernicka, but Jones escaped on foot. He was later arrested Sept. 22 and charged with going armed with intent, carrying a concealed weapon, and criminal gang participation. Miller told police he worked for the "Black P Stone Rangers," a Chicago-based gang.