Petaluma gang member convicted in three South San Francisco killings

A Petaluma man whose arrest led to a near-deadly shootout with federal agents at his family’s McNeil Avenue home was convicted of a federal racketeering conspiracy involving the killing of three people in South San Francisco, the attempted murder of three federal agents and other crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Victor Flores, 23, who went by the nickname “Little Creeper,” was convicted Tuesday of opening fire with an AK-47-style assault weapon on May 3, 2012, when dozens of agents raided the home off South McDowell Boulevard where he was living with his parents and younger brother.

Three agents were injured, identified in court documents as federal officers Anwar Thompson, Timothy O’Hara and Brian Homcy, members of the Los Angeles Special Response Team of Homeland Security Investigations.

One of the men was still undergoing treatment and remained on limited duty because of his injuries from the shooting, which have required multiple surgeries, said Lillian Araúz-Haase, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman.

The shootout took place during coordinated raids around the Bay Area when authorities rounded up 13 suspected South San Francisco gang members indicted for a series of violent crimes uncovered during the investigation into the 2010 shooting that left three men dead. The U.S. Attorney’s Office called the incident one of the most violent crimes in South San Francisco history.

On Dec. 22, 2010, Flores and a fellow member of the 500 Block/C Street norteño gang, Joseph Ortiz of South San Francisco, shot at seven people they perceived as rivals who were walking on a South San Francisco street. Three men were killed and three others were wounded.

Flores will spend the rest of his life in federal prison following the verdict reached Tuesday after a three-month trial in San Francisco before United States District Court Judge Susan Illston. He faces a minimum of three life terms plus 35 years or a maximum of six life terms plus 103 years imprisonment, according to federal prosecutors. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 16.

The jury also convicted Flores and two other men of conducting the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, which included drug dealing, robbery and other crimes of violence.

Prosecutors charged 19 defendants in the case and at least 15 have pleaded guilty, including Flores’ accomplice Ortiz, who is serving five life terms plus 60 years imprisonment for his involvement in the 2010 shooting.

Flores’ family and his attorneys couldn’t immediately be reached late Wednesday.

The 2012 raid jolted the quiet east Petaluma neighborhood awake with the boom of flash-bang grenades and a barrage of gunfire.

Flores’ parents told The Press Democrat at the time that Flores had recently appeared in court and questioned why he wasn’t arrested then. The family said they had moved from South San Francisco to Petaluma about seven months earlier to escape gang violence after someone fired bullets at their younger son, then 14, and a friend. South San Francisco police later said they suspect that was an attempt at retaliation for the three men Flores killed in 2010.

Flores’ father, also named Victor Flores, also apparently opened fire before he realized the intruders were law enforcement. It wasn’t clear Wednesday whether he had been charged in the case.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.