Transcripts For KTVU Second Look 20140407

The fbis recent arrest of state senator leland yee and five other defendants have refocused attention on someone who has had criminal complaints, shrimp boy chow. The Golden Dragon massacre in 1977 is also one of his crimes. Members of the rival joe boys gang came in and opened fire. They killed five people and wounded 11 others. None of the gang members. Here is the report at that time september 4, 1944 from ktvus mike oconner. About one minute the ammunition is spent. And the floor was full of dead and dying. The people who were not hit were in terror. Some were cowering behind chairs even after police arrived. Ambulances filled body bags and went back for more. This was a massacre. One of the victims was celebrating his College Graduation up from los angeles with buddies. He found himself in the middle of horror. They were all around us. There were four of us sitting at the table. Three of us were hit. The bullets were coming in our direction. To the left of me i know later on died. A person in front of me was very badly wounded. I was very fortunate that he just missed a major artery in my leg. I have a flesh wound right now. I consider myself lucky. The hospital staff was losing the battle for lives and working on death certificates. Donald quan died at 3 35. Denise louis at 3 45. At 4 10 kevin wong. All of the dead had multiple gunshot wounds. 75 diners, many of them tourists were in the dragon restaurant when three masked gunmen rushed in and opened fire. The gunmen were members of the joe boys trying to retaliate against members of two gangs for a killing earlier that year. They really wanted to get everybody at one time at one place. I mean just seize power. They thought they were going to wipe out the leadership. Definitely. They thought they were going to wipe out most of the hot sing boys and the wachang gang we believe they were all there. Reporter but they werent. There were 16 innocent victims. Five dead, 11 seriously injured. A dozen people were eventually sent to jail for their roles in the massacre. San Francisco Police quickly created a special Gang Task Force to deal with the growing gang problem in San Franciscos china town. While some of the older gangs have withered away. Merchants say younger gangs are taking over. This the communities keep on changing and lee its in constant motion. Reporter in may 1990, another shooting police say was gang related erupted near china town. Police said the shooting was part of an ongoing power struggle involving the waching gang. Reporter there was so many gunshot wound victims that paramedics had to make a hard decision. Who to rush to the hospital first. One man 37yearold Michael Ching gu was shot dead. Seven others were wounded in what police call a gang ambush. The victims were all leaving the purple onion nightclub where china town meets north beach. Police say the victims who all knew each other were climbing into two different cars about a block apart when two gunmen one in each car started firing simultaneously with semi automatic weapons. They knew the people were in the nightclub. Apparently they knew where their cars were and they waited for them to come out. They watched them separate and go to their cars. They shot the groups of people at the same time. Reporter doctors at Mission Emergency hospital say most of the victims will recover. But margaret lee is in Critical Condition with gunshot wounds to the stomach and hip and she is four months pregnant. The suspects described in their 20s are probably in the waching gang. There was a particular vehicle that was shot up. Possibly involved in those shootings. Reporter still to come on a second look, how police say the shooting outside the purple onion would eventually lead to the killing of another gang leader and the arrest of shrimp boy chow. And what led to the rise of chow in an organization known as the free nation. [doorbell rings] hey. Hey. Whats this . Its uverse live tv. With at t uverse. You can watch live tv from your device. Hey. Hey. Anywhere in your home. [doorbell rings] hey. Hey. So you wont miss a minute of ncaa march madness. Call now to get a uverse bundle for the same great price for 2 years. Guaranteed. In 1991, Gang Violence erupted again in china town. Someone shot and killed 35year old danny wong. He was reputed to be the leader of the wa ching gang. His killing was believed to be part of a cycle of violence and retaliation. Reporter some of it you could see. Most of it you couldnt see. There was a funeral at San Francisco chinas town this afternoon. Most of the police here were undercover officers. Members of the Gang Task Force attending the funeral of danny wang. The officers were not here out of respect. They were here as part of the Police Chiefs new plan to have Task Force Officers and not homicide investigators solve the killing and head off further gang warfare in china town. Wong was the leader and one of the oldest members of the well known gang. Wong was killed a week ago in a diner slightly injured in the foot as wong was getting into this car. Nine shots were fired, four hit wong. A shot went through the front door of this restaurant and hit the diner inside. Gang experts believe the killing of danny wong may be in retaliation for this shooting back in may. A 37yearold man was killed, seven people were wounded. That shooting was in retaliation for another killing the month before. Theres a struggle between gangs or within a gang or Something Like that and it doesnt take a genius to know that theres going to be more. So weve got to stop it. Reporter danny wongs funeral procession wound its way through china town ending up at the spot where he was killed. While the band played mourners lit incense and put out items for wong to use in his afterlife. The spot happens to be just across the street from the side of the worse Gang Violence in San Francisco history. The Golden Dragon restaurant where in 1977 five innocent diners died in a spray of bullets intended for the waching gang. Although no one was ever prosecuted for wongs killing, police believed it was part of a power struggle between wongs waching gang and a second gang. Police would arrive 15 people they say were members of wo hop to. Reporter san Francisco Police say china town is different. Police say they removed the fear in the Chinese Community by arresting 15 members of the reknowned gang wo hop to. Hopefully it will discourage young members not to join these organizations to be used and manipulated. The hop sing which the young people arrested this among belonged to. Recruited young males some as young as 13 years old. Reporter the oldest raymond shrimp boy chow. Already in jail on drug charges, chow now faces charges of child molesting, and running a Human Trafficking ring. The girls came from the los angeles area. They were flown to San Francisco and worked were brought almost need immediately to the house to start working. Reporter robbing the owners of this Korean Restaurant and robbing the residents of a sunset district home. The arrests of the gang will not put the gang out of business but we think it will put a serious blow to the gang. Reporter thats when danny wong the leader of the rival waching gang was shot getting into his car. When we come back on a second look. How a 2006 homicide led to raymond chows rise to the head of the powerful organization of the organization known as the chinese free masons. And how a member of the San Francisco council came to spend time in prison. Tonight on a second look. Crime in San Franciscos china town and one of its central figures over the last four decades raymond shrimp boy chow. Chow is one of the 20 people authorities recently arrested along with state senator leland yee. Chow had said he was no longer a criminal but a civic figure head of the hong tong also known as the free masons. He became head of that organization in 2006 after someone shot and killed his predecessor who was also head of the hop sing tong. Reporter it does not appear to be a random act. Reporter the shooting happenedded yesterday afternoon inside of leongs business on jackson street in china town. Investigators say a gun man walked in, yelled robbery and promptly shot leon numerous times. But investigators say they dont believe robbery was the motive. Leons death made news in if chinese newspaper. Some individuals dont need to talk too much and they carry a big stake. I think he may be following that parameters. Leon was an elder and task president of a business and Fraternal Organization that dates back to the 1500s. An organization that settled disputes in china including using violent tactics. Today representatives from taiwan paid a condolence call to the hop sing office. Theyre so sincere, and over the community affairs. Reporter as San Franciscos china town prepares for the upcoming Lunar New Year parade, this store front on jackson street remains closed. As it has been for most of the time over the past year. It was inside this business last february that allen leong one of the most powerful if powerful figures in china town was gunned down. Leong was at work with his wife i guess by his side when the suspect came in and shot him. Leongs funeral brought out hundreds of mourners. He was a tough leader. Very strong. He would say, put his foot down and people listened. Reporter leong had had problems of younger members of hop sing who had been seeking money from the organization. And theres reports that leong went to police saying he feared for his life. The department has gotten several leads in the case. San Francisco Police inspectors have traveled to new york and worked in cooperation with the nypd in following up a lead. Theyve had leads from all over the country. Reporter police have released a composite sketch. Theres a reward leading to the killers arrest and conviction. 100,000 from the city. And. 25 of a Million Dollars more from the hop sing tong. The saga of ed yu. How the man who followed yee ended up behind bars. Lub card, the safeway app and gas rewards. This week,. Lifes just a little sweeter with delicious red, seedless grapes. Just 1. 99 a pound. Clean up with bounty paper towels, only 8. 99 for 8 large rolls. And honey bunches of oats are just 1. 88. Theres more savings to love. At safeway. Ingredients for life. For 175 dollars a month . So our business can be on at ts network yup. All five of you for 175. Our clients need a lot of attention. Theres unlimited talk and text. Were working deals all day. You get 10 gigabytes of data to share. What about expansion potential . Add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. Low dues great terms lets close. Our best ever value plans for business just got even better. Now with free broadband for a whole year. Tonight on a second look we revisit some of the criminal figures surrounding leland yee who was arrested last month on corruption charges. One of those is a man who followed yee. Ktvus rob roth followed the case when yu pled guilty and was sentenced in 2009. Reporter inside a federal courtroom yu admitted hes guilty of soliciting a fraud, extortion and mail fraud representing the sun set district. During the year, yu issued an apology saying quote i am truly sorry for the disgrace i have brought myself, my family, the city. I accept full responsibility for my actions. He feels really bad for the people of the sunset that hes really let them down and made huge mistakes. He clearly put his own interests ahead of those of the public. Reporter he tried to shake down the owners of the tapeoka drink store in exchange for 84,000. His Attorney Says the money was meant to go toward city prompts. The way he saw politics operating when he was brought up in the System People got money whether it was red envelopes or Cash Payments payments then used that money to do things in the community. Yu resigned from office. Yu came to court hoping the sentence would be no more than a year many prison. But the judge sentenced yu to 68 months behind bars thats more than five year and he has to pay a 10,000 fine. He began serving his sentence july 1st. Before and after sentencing yu said he was sorry. I just apologize to everybody in the city. To to my colleagues on the board of supervisors. To my family and friends. Reporter yu admitted that four weeks after taking office he took 8,000 in cash in exchange for helping to steer the business through city bureaucracy. He was maintaining that he wanted to use the money to repair a park and that he was unclear on politics. About a dozen of yus friends came to show support. I know he should have known better. Leland yee said he told authority that is he had heard extortion allegations against ed yu. Now that yee himself has been arrested on corruption charges, yees attorneys called his comments outrageous. He made a statement in a recent interview with amber lee. Reporter ed yus attorney describes the former San Francisco supervisor as a property jay protegee of yu. Yu recently finished serving nearly five years in federal prison. He faces another six months in county jail for perjury. But his attorney now says that yu is eligible for home detention. Attorney Stewart Hamlin says yu fits the criteria because he committed nonviolent crimes. The judge may order yu to perform community service. Yu wants to resume running his familys flower shop in china town. You change. Time in prison will change any of us. Reporter yu has not spoken publicly since his fall. Probably the biggest political scandal in San Francisco. It really hurt it is imagine of all politicians. Reporter jim roth has worked on campaigns with newsom and others. The allegations against yu point to improving transparency. Reporter a crime to which he himself would later plead guilty. Here at the canton flower shop on waiverly place owner ed yu is busy filling orders, getting ready for the Lunar New Year. He says he knows full well that the coming holiday brings more than celebration. It also brings extortion. Most of the time it starts when someone shows up with a plant like this and asks the store owner for thousands of the dollars. Dont pay and you will get hurt. They follow them into the house. So thats the thing that perhaps will get to these merchants and these proprietors. They will say youre coming to my home. I dont want this to happen. Please take this and leave me alone. Reporter sometimes threats are carried out. Merchants will remember what happened to two store owners. At the start of lunar year, two businesses were burned. In the past merchants say theyve been afraid to call police to report extortion attempts. But because of Community Outreach that fear seems to be slowly fading away. And thats it for this weeks second look. Im julie haener. Thank you for watching. Is this coffee . Its nespresso vertuoline. How do they make this froth . Its coffee crema. Last question. May i have another cup please . Thank you. Next [ penelope ] nespresso vertuoline. Experience the revolution of coffee. How come we dont have the same number of containers and lids . Why would they ever get separated . Builtup resentment, money issues, met a younger lid. Huh . Mmhmm. Mom, wheres my science homework . Uh, its over there on the table. So, alex, honey, whats going on . Anything exciting . No. Any boys . No. Im feeling a little bit disconnected from alex right now. Last week, i picked up her cellphone thinking it was mine, and i accidentally read a few flirty Text Messages that were probably from a boy in her class, which is fine. Or theyre from a drifter. Come on, isnt there something you want to share with your mommers . Yeah. Dont call yourself mommers. He blew his lid when she tried to contain him. [chuckles]