HOUSTON – If you can't arrest them to get them off the street, then ban them from the neighborhood.
That's what Harris County attorney Vince Ryan is doing to 54 gang members who he says have been terrorizing homeowners.
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On Thursday Ryan filed a lawsuit to ban 37 members of the Bloods and 17 members of the Crips from stepping foot anywhere inside what's been dubbed the East Aldine safety zone.
It's an area east of Highway 59 and south of Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Ryan says gang members deal drugs, rob, steal and routinely wield deadly weapons.
Frank Morales has lived in the neighborhood for 43 years.
He says gang members recently destroyed the aluminum fence around his home by ramming a car right through it.
He calls the gangsters a deadly threat to his community.
"Automatic weapons and shotguns, and you name it, but it's all coming from over there," Morales said.
According to the rules of this ban, if any of the 54 gang members are seen by within the safety zone they can be arrested immediately, on site.