GANG ATTACKS LEAVE 1 INJURED, 5 IN JAIL.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Gang violence in Glendale erupted over the weekend, leaving one man with four stab wounds and at least five people in custody.

Four men and one woman were held in connection with two unrelated gang attacks Sunday, Glendale Police Sgt. Rick Young said. It was unclear whether a sixth suspect, a 17-year-old girl, was taken to juvenile hall or released to her parents.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old Glendale man was recovering Monday from the stab wounds he suffered early Sunday morning in front of his Chestnut Street home.

The attack left him with two wounds to the back, one to the side and one to the arm, according to a police report.

The violence began shortly after midnight Sunday when a 1994 Toyota Corolla pulled alongside two Glendale men riding their bikes on Riverdale Drive near Pacific Avenue, Young said.

Nearby officers from the department's Special Enforcement Detail, who had just spoken to the men for riding without lights on their bicycles, saw the Toyota's passenger point what appeared to be a gun at the cyclists, according to a report written by Officer Keith Soboleski

The passenger then yelled the name of a gang to the cyclists, the report stated.

Fearing he would be shot, one of the men jumped off his bike and ran. Driving with their lights and sirens, police tried to pull over the Toyota, but it sped away and reversed through a red light at San Fernando Road, the report said.

After a short pursuit, the car stopped, and one of the occupants tossed a three-inch knife out the window, officials said.

Those taken into custody were identified as Jaime Miguel Gomez, 21, of Glendale and Burbank residents Joanna Cecilia Prats, 18, and Danny Gonzalez, 19.

Rival gangs have existed in the area for years, Young said, adding police will monitor the situation closely, given the recent disturbances.

Following the arrests just after midnight Sunday, police were called to a home in the 200 block of East Chestnut Street, two blocks away from the Riverdale Drive incident.

Witnesses told police a 20-year-old Glendale man was in front of his house with his 19-year-old girlfriend at about 3:30 a.m. when a handful of gang members asked which gang the man belonged to, a police report said. When the man told the group he did not belong to a gang, the unidentified men announced that their gang ``owns'' Glendale, police said.

Minutes later, the group returned with eight additional people who rushed the man and knocked him to the ground, the report said. As the man turned to check on his girlfriend, he was stabbed four times.

Officers searching the nearby neighborhoods spotted Daniel Cabrera, 26, of Los Angeles with blood on his hands and pants, the police report said. Both Cabrera and 22-year-old Mario Aleman of Glendale ran when police tried to talk to them on Brand Boulevard, officials said.

Both men, identified as assailants by the victim's girlfriend, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said.

Cabrera, Aleman, Gomez, Prats and Gonzalez all were being held Monday on $1 million bail at Glendale City Jail. Their arraignments are scheduled for this morning at Glendale Superior Court.