Updated: 10/28/2009 8:23:36 AM
By Chris Echegaray, The Tennessean
Roger Wayne Battle, the local leader of the Traveling Vice Lords who was indicted on federal charges Tuesday, was on the Metro police gang unit's radar as early as 2005.
Police thought he was going to be off the streets for eight years after he was sentenced for crashing into unmarked cruisers, gang unit officers and unsuspecting motorists while trying to escape a drug sting.
Battle, known as "T-Wayne," was out of prison in less than three years.
Since his release, police have connected Battle to at least three murders, kidnapping, racketeering, assault, four drive-by shootings and other charges his crew is facing.
On Tuesday, Battle, 28, and eight other gang members were hit with a 64-count federal indictment that signals the growth of gangs in Middle Tennessee.
In two years, federal prosecutors have worked on cases involving gangs MS-13, Rollin' Crips, La Familia Cartel and now the Traveling Vice Lords. Local, state and federal agencies have worked together on all of them.
Police say there are more than three dozen gang-affiliated groups in Middle Tennessee.
"Gangs of these types are moving to Middle Tennessee," U.S. Attorney for Middle Tennessee Ed Yarbrough said at a news conference.
"And we're not happy about that. We are letting them know it will not be tolerated."
Gangs grow through recruitment in jails and prisons, said Sgt. Gary Kemper of the Metro gang unit.
Inmates "go into prison and youth facilities unaffiliated but they come out gang members," he said. "That's the problem. That's why you see them in rural areas."
Early release frustrating
Kemper had heard about Battle after the Nashville gang unit was formed in 2004. He recalls his rude introduction to Battle after the gang member crashed into his truck during the July 12, 2005, sting.
"He was ramming my truck," Kemper said. "He was trying to flee the scene.
"Back then he was trying to show his strength. Now, he's evil."
Four years before this federal indictment, Nashville's gang unit had set up a drug buy with Battle, who was then supposed to smuggle it into Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, court records show.
Police had the sting in place in the parking lot of a movie theater.
After his arrest and conviction, Battle was sentenced to eight years but served just three. Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas said it's frustrating to work a case and make an arrest only to have the criminal released under state prison sentencing guidelines.
"With federal prosecution, they won't have that," he said. "We are as serious about disrupting them (gangs) as they are about forming."
After his prison stint, Battle continued where he left off, according to the 73-page indictment released Tuesday. Battle moved up the gang hierarchy, becoming a Five Star Universal Elite, the highest-ranking Traveling Vice Lord and leader of the crew in Murfreesboro and Nashville.
Two out of three major Vice Lord factions - Battle's Traveling Vice Lords and the Conservative Vice Lords - operate in Middle Tennessee.
"The Vice Lords are the oldest gang out of Chi-Town (Chicago), and they have been flexing their muscles," said Tommy Vallejos, a national expert on gangs who is pastor of Faith Outreach Church in Clarksville, Tenn. "They've been in Kentucky and started to move here.
"I believe this is a good bust, but it opens the door for other crime syndicates already here to try to move in on their illegal business ventures," added Vallejos, a former street gang member from New Mexico.
Internal power struggle
Here, an internal power struggle ensued among those aligned with the Vice Lords, known for distribution of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines.
According to the indictments:
Battle and his crew were partying with the Conservative Vice Lords and the Mafia Insane Vice Lords at the National Guard Armory in Murfreesboro in November 2007.
Several fights broke out, including one with Donnell Valentine, local leader of the Conservative Vice Lords. Valentine, who was working security at the party, was attacked.
Under Vice Lords rules, the other members should have come to Valentine's aid. Rafael Butler didn't and was to be "put out" of the gang by a beating.
Battle took Butler to a Murfreesboro apartment and held him there as he was beaten by Gary Chapman and Christopher Imes - both indicted Tuesday - and Valentine. Butler suffered serious injuries but was allowed to leave.
After Butler's beating, Valentine was shot and killed at a club called The Drink in Murfreesboro - by Butler's associates.
Later, Battle and his crew retaliated by shooting two people at a Murfreesboro apartment.
On Nov. 14, Battle sent Imes, Demarco Smith, 23, and Lashaundra Hightower to Murfreesboro to shoot up a West Main Street apartment, where they fatally shot Moss James Dixon, 66, an innocent bystander. Smith and Hightower were indicted Tuesday.
The crew shot up several other locations where they thought Butler and his crew were staying.
Battle and Jessie Lobbins, another indicted gang member, shot and killed Brandon Harris on Feb. 10, 2008. Harris, a member of the Mickey Cobras, a gang affiliated with the Vice Lords, had mentioned that Battle might have had something to do with Valentine's death.
Angered by the comments, Battle lured Harris to a meeting under the guise of a drug transaction on Bell Road in Nashville. They led Harris to Rice Road in Antioch, where they shot and killed him.
Steven Gerido, assistant special agent in charge of the Nashville office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the federal indictments send a message:
"It will not be tolerated. When you seek to terrorize, we're going to get you."
Additional Facts
ALSO INDICTED
Others indicted Tuesday are:
Arrested:
? Delregus Alexander, also known as "Blow," age 35, of Murfreesboro.
Not yet arrested:
? Demarco Lewayne Smith, known as Marco, 23, of Murfreesboro
? Curtis S. Green, known as Curt, 28, of Nashville
? Samuel Joseph Gaines, known as "Born Ready," 22, of Murfreesboro
