HILLSBOROUGH - An arrest last week in a Hillsborough shooting was a rare instance in Orange County: Police said with certainty that one of the suspects was a gang member.

In the past, possible gang connections have surfaced in violent crimes in Chapel Hill, such as shootings that shut down the Visions nightclub, the Apple Chill street fair and the Avalon nightclub.

The slaying of UNC-Chapel Hill student leader Eve Carson intensified concerns about gangs. One of the suspects showed up in a bank security photo using Carson's ATM card and wearing a vintage Houston Astros hat that police said might be a gang symbol.

Authorities have not ruled out gang involvement in the Carson case or in a recent rash of armed robberies, but they have been reluctant to link a particular crime to a particular gang.

Mitch McKinney, Chapel Hill's only police officer assigned to gangs and only part time, said he needs help to get a handle on gang-related crimes in the town.

"We're doing the best we can with the resources we have available," he said. "Until we can determine what the problem is, we can't deal with it."

Chapel Hill has not seen a rise in home invasions, carjackings or aggravated assaults, as McKinney would expect with increasing gang activity, but the spate of muggings may illuminate a growing gang problem. McKinney says that more teens are dressing like gangsters and that he is seeing more gang graffiti than in the past. Violent crime is sure to follow, he said.

"Once gangs become entrenched, it's just that much harder to deal with them," he said. But there's an old adage in law enforcement, he said: "Nothing really happens to change the status quo unless something bad happens."

Durham gang member

In the Hillsborough case, police drew on gang intelligence from neighboring agencies to identify Hakeem Kyri Hubbard, 18, as a member of the Eight Trey Gangster Crips, a gang founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s and now operating in southeast Durham.

Hubbard is being held on $500,000 bail on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

Police say he was part of a group of five who pulled up alongside Lakendrick Watts, 31, in the Fairview neighborhood of Hillsborough late Thursday night and shot him in the abdomen with a semi-automatic rifle when he refused to give them cash. Watts survived what police say appears to be a random crime.

Hillsborough Police Lt. Davis Trimmer said Hubbard may not turn out to be the only gang member involved. Three others were charged, including Jasmine Denise White, 17, of Durham, who allegedly led Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Lavar Eubanks on a chase at high speeds. Both vehicles skidded onto a set of railroad tracks running parallel to U.S. 70 in Mebane.

Mebane police helped to round up Hubbard and Durham's James Benjamin Bolds III, 18, near the scene. White and Gilbert Devon Rochelle, 19, also of Durham, were arrested two days later. Hillsborough Police are seeking Shaheem Tyrone Williams, 18, of Durham, who escaped that night. Trimmer said he thinks Williams also is affiliated with the Eight Trey Gangster Crips.

"The significant thing is that we've got people who appear to have some gang affiliation coming from Durham," Trimmer said. "I hope this doesn't turn into a trend here in Hillsborough."

No specialists on board

Though Durham has more than 30 gang officers between the city police and county sheriff's office, no law enforcement agency in Orange County has even one officer dedicated exclusively to gangs.

McKinney enforces alcohol laws with half his time. He would like to focus on gangs full time on a two-member team with another officer.

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