CAUGHT IN THE CROSS-FIRE RUSSIAN IMMIGRANT SHOT NEAR HOME.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

NORTH HILLS - Angela Alvarez dreamed of living a life free of hatred and full of success when she immigrated to the United States from Russia a decade ago.

But late Monday night, the 29-year-old mother's American dream faded away after she was caught in the cross-fire of a suspected gang shooting that sent a bullet through her head just outside her North Hills home in the 15400 block of Rayen Street.

Alvarez's wound is not life-threatening, but she lost her left eye because of the bullet fired by an apparent gang member on a bicycle, police and her 23-year-old sister, Svetlana Petrochenko, said.

And now, her dream of owning a graphic design company is jeopardized, her sister said. That's because her work requires sharp vision.

``She had bad vision before that - now she can't even see in one eye,'' Petrochenko said. ``It's going to affect her self-esteem a lot because she will have scars . . . I hope they will pay for it and they get what they deserve.''

Alvarez, who adopted her ex-husband's last name, emigrated from Russia with her parents and sister 10 years ago to escape anti-Jewish persecution.

``We were looking for a better life,'' Petrochenko said.

She described her sister as ``always smiling with her big brown eyes, selfless, smart, beautiful and always trying to help people.''

Alvarez did not realize when she moved into her low-rent Rayen Street apartment six months ago that she had wound up living in American gangland.

Alvarez soon began fearing the gangs on her street, her sister said. ``She was scared to take the bus home at night because she finishes work at 9:30 p.m.''

A family friend drove her from her work as an AT&T customer service representative in Sherman Oaks to North Hills each night.

And she chose to have her 7-year-old daughter live with her father in a safer neighborhood.

Just as her friend turned onto her street after work on Monday night, just a building away from her home, they entered the path of gunfire shortly after 10 p.m., police said.

Witnesses described two male Latinos, ages 18 to 23, on bicycles, with one of them shooting toward two pedestrians, likely rival gang members, said LAPD Lt. Jerry Szymanski of the Devonshire Division.

A bullet hit the rear window of the victims' car and went through a headrest before striking the left side of Alvarez's head.

``The bullet exited her left eye,'' the lieutenant said.

``This is a case of a good citizen getting caught in the gunfire. In the worst way, we'd like to solve this,'' Szymanski said. ``We're going to give this our varsity best.''

Like other LAPD police divisions, however, Devonshire is juggling calls while being short officers, including anti-gang officers who are intensely training for the Democratic National Convention next month. This has caused a retreat on gang investigations in recent months, police said.