HOUSTON A judge Monday granted an injunction to permanently ban criminal gang activity from a crime-ridden apartment complex in northeast Houston.
The civil injunction, the first in Harris County, bans 47 known members of the Bloods and Crips gangs from entering a 57-acre zone around the Haverstock Hills Apartments, home to about 2,400 residents. The safety zone includes nearby businesses and an elementary school.
The residents of Haverstock Hills are entitled to a safe home for themselves and their children, said District Attorney Patricia Lykos. We are taking the property back from the criminals. This is notice to the Bloods and the Crips and all the other gangs that we are going after them.
Of the 47 listed gang members, 28 agreed to the terms of the injunction. The other 19 were ordered to comply under the court orders issued Monday. The remaining defendants were also asked to pay more than $70,000 in attorney fees to the state.
Gang members who defy the order could be charged with trespassing, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a $4,000 fine and one year in jail.
Monday s permanent injunction follows a temporary injunction that wasissued December 10 by State District Judge Smoots-Hogan.
