Varrio Townsmen - TSM

The Townsmen Gang resides in the City of La Puente just North of Valley Blvd and East of Azusa Avenue. 

Initials: TSM

Area Code: 626

Bandana Color: Blue

Logo: N/A

Hand Sign:  Right hand pinky and ring finger bent at the primary knuckle, Index, middle finger extended facing down (thumb extended outward like a hitchhiker).

Gang Began:(Unverified)

Shortly before 4:00 p.m. on July 1, 2000, Carlos C. (Carlos), a Townsmen gang associate, was bicycling down the street in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as East Valinda. Members of the rival Little Hill criminal street gang drove by. They stopped, yelled out their gang name “Little Hill,” got out of their car and beat up Carlos.

After the beating, the Little Hill gang members drove off, and Carlos bicycled to a friend’s. At the friend’s residence, Townsmen gang members picked up Carlos in a stolen car. At his companions’ request, Carlos retrieved a .357-caliber revolver from his residence. Carlos had been storing the revolver for the gang and gave it to “Youngster,” who was seated in the right front passenger seat of the car. With Carlos, Youngster, and a third youth in the car, “Bandit,” the car’s driver, cruised the neighborhood looking for Carlos’s assailants. When they did not find the assailants, Bandit pulled up in front of a residence where Edgar A.(Edgar) and Angelica M. (Angelica), two Little Hill gang associates, were sitting on a front porch talking. Youngster yelled out, “Townsmen,” and shot twice. He wounded Angelica in the upper back.

After the shooting, Angelica spoke to a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff, Sergeant Steven Mills, whom she knew from prior contacts. She told the sergeant that her assailants were the Townsmen gang members she knew as “Bandit” and “Youngster.” She identified the youths in a six-pack photographic display. At trial, Angelica testified that at the time of the shooting, Bandit was her husband Spanky’s biggest enemy. She indicated that her husband was a Little Hill gang member.