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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Photo Illustration by Cindy Couling
Signs of the Times
After an alleged hate crime, a neighborhood reclaims its streets
By Jessica Lyons
Cindy Martin used to be afraid to cross the street. Leafy green trees outline her Willow Glen neighborhood of manicured lawns and elegant homes, and yet the thirtysomething professional rarely left her house, afraid of something evil lurking on the other side of the front door.
It wasn't an invisible demon haunting Martin--it was a group of teenagers. Heads shaven, clad in army fatigues, T-shirts with white supremacist sayings and combat boots, the tattoo-ridden teens would assemble on the other side of the street and hang out there, sometimes all night long. They met in an old garage on Laurie Avenue, where neighbors say they could clearly see swastikas and racist fliers posted on the walls.
"They were intimidating, just by who they were and what they were representing," says Martin, who requested that a pseudonym be used. "They were extremely loud, lighting stuff on fire and spray painting. They were loitering. They had nothing to do, nowhere to go--they're a group of completely lost individuals."
The group of young adults, both guys and girls ranging from 15 to 21 years old, numbered anywhere from three to 15, according to neighbors. The loud, disturbing parties at the house have been going on since Cindy Martin and husband Michael moved into the neighborhood almost two years ago, she says. Longer-established neighbors, however, say the group has been an ominous presence for at least five years. At first sporadic, the informal gatherings increased over the summer to nearly every evening. Sometimes they would meet to fight with each other, sometimes they would yell at passersby and motorists, or sometimes, neighbors say, they would just talk about their racist philosophy.
According to police, on Aug. 29 the teens had a definite purpose for meeting. They wanted to commit anti-Semitic acts and they were looking for a Jewish target. Early the next morning, three of the teenagers attempted to carry out their plan. One of the three, a 17-year-old male, lives in the house on Laurie Avenue, the home that had been a hangout for teens.
Nineteen-year-old Victor Quintin Podbreger and two 17-year-old males settled on a target, the home of Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Jack Komar. The three lighted a Molotov cocktail and tossed it onto the judge's porch. No one was hurt in the attack.
According to police, the suspects targeted Komar because they thought he was Jewish. (He is Roman Catholic.) Classifying the suspects as "independent skinheads," police called the firebombing a hate crime. Don Anders, deputy police chief, says the three do not belong to a formal white supremacist group, but do "aspire to leaderless resistance."
"It's very clear that the hateful motivation was because the suspects believed the residents living in the house were Jewish," Anders said.
When police searched the house on Laurie Avenue, they found white supremacist literature. A Nazi flag and uniform were found at Podbreger's house.
On Sept. 15, Podbreger pleaded not guilty to the crimes. The investigation is ongoing, as police continue to interview other teens who were at the Laurie Avenue house the night of the firebombing.
This wasn't the first time the police had visited the house, however. Over the past several years, neighbors routinely called the police, complaining about the noise and disturbances. Police responded, sometimes citing the teens for minor misdemeanors, but most of the time there was no legal reason to cite the kids.
"People have a constitutional right to have any kind of evil thought imaginable," says Lt. Mike O'Connor, lead investigator in the case. "It's very important for us to make sure we abide by that."
O'Connor says Podbreger and one of the juveniles admitted to a previous hate crime committed in March 1998 at Komar's house, in which the two drew swastikas on Komar's house and fence.
Neighbors say the firebombing pushed them over the edge. They say they don't want to sit back and be silent anymore. Three suspects are in jail, the rowdy gatherings have stopped--for now--and that gives some neighbors enough confidence to speak out. But it worries them, too.
"Where are they?" asks neighbor Julie Philips, who also requested a pseudonym. "That's my concern for other neighborhoods."
With the highly visible police presence in the neighborhood, and the renewed neighbor-to-neighbor contact, the community can rest a little easier, Philips says.
"We look out our windows a little more; we're certainly a little braver," she adds. "As a neighbor, you can't be a prisoner in your own home. The more we step back and hide, the more they're going to do it. We don't have to live with it when it comes down to violence."
"From what I've seen living here the past five years, I believed something of that nature [the firebombing] was going to happen. I don't care what you believe, but when you act out your beliefs in a violent nature toward innocent people, or animals, or homes, you have stepped into territory that is going to fight back."
Two days after the firebombing, Willow Glen neighbors met with police to talk about safety and about ways to prevent a similar attack. About 60 neighbors and police officers attended the neighborhood watch meeting, the first one the community has held in about two years. Police advised neighbors on ways to combat suspicious or criminal activity, and neighbors met each other, some for the first time. Because more than 80 percent of the neighborhood participates in the watch program, the neighborhood sports a shiny metal sign warning prowlers that a neighborhood watch program is in force.
"I think it shows people that it's a united community, that the neighbors are keeping an eye out for each other," neighbor Tiralisa Kaplow says. This weekend, the street has another get-to-know-your-neighbors activity planned: a block party.
"All the neighbors are invited, it's BYO drinks or snacks, it's a chance for people to connect with their neighbors," says Kaplow
The meetings create a more "neighborly" attitude among people living on the same street, Kaplow says.
"There's more information sharing, exchanging and gathering, so people aren't strangers," Kaplow adds.
"It's basically a bad situation of young people getting completely out of hand, and parents turning their backs on it," Martin says. "There was no parental supervision. It's something that was grossly out of control, but we're on top of it now. We're keeping zero tolerance of any type of uncomfortable behavior or action."
But for some, that's not enough. They want to know where the parents were when all this was taking place.
"Where are the parents?" Philips asks. "I think the parents should be held accountable. Parents don't question their children enough. It's unfortunate, because this incident could have been prevented if they had the proper authority from parents and police."
The grandfather of one of the juveniles in custody for the Aug. 29 firebombing lives in the house on Laurie Avenue. He did not return repeated phone call from the Willow Glen Resident.
Parents cannot be held criminally liable for their kids' decision to firebomb a house, said Kurt Kumli, the deputy district attorney who supervises the juvenile division. For example, in shooting crimes, parents can be charged with negligent storage of a firearm, Kumli says, but that's because of a law specific to guns. The charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor requires more active involvement in the crime as well, Kumli said, such as recruiting a juvenile to commit a crime.
"That's not what we have here," he said. "Really the liability in a case like this is a civil liability."
Parents of the two juveniles may be compelled to foot the bill for court costs, damage to the Komar residence and any other out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the victims and the 17-year-old suspects.
"The exposure is really financial as opposed to criminal, and that exposure runs pretty deep," Kumli says. "For anyone who has been around juvenile court and read a social studies report on a victim, you realize a lot of times there is neglectful parenting, sometimes in the extreme, and it's not a huge leap of logic to say the reason the kid is a delinquent is because of bad parenting, but the legislature hasn't seen fit to criminally hold parents liable for the criminal actions of their children."
For some criminal activity, however, the courts are beginning to hold parents accountable for their offspring's behavior.
Parents of graffiti taggers pay a hefty price for their children's criminal artwork. By law, parents are responsible for the cost of cleanup.
Last week, a Superior Court judge ordered a San Jose mother of three to jail for neglecting to send her kids to school. Sentenced to 50 days, Rita Garcia became the first parent in Santa Clara County to be jailed for a child's truancy.
"The law has changed over the last few years in a lot of areas to make the connection between the behavior of people under 18 and their parents, and I think that's a good thing," Kumli says.
Podbreger is being held without bail on charges of possession of a destructive device and a hate-crime enhancement. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years and eight months in prison. A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 23.
Kumli has filed a motion to have one of the 17-year-olds tried as an adult, which could carry a 12-year sentence as well.
If convicted in juvenile court, the two could face confinement by the California Youth Authority until age 25.
But for now, knowing that the three are not out on the streets is comforting. For Cindy Martin, it's enough to be able to walk outside her front door.
"This is how it should be," she says. "I feel like it's 'Pleasantville.' Everyone is out strolling down the street, riding their bikes, talking with each other. I think the mayor needs to come see this neighborhood and realize we've never had it this way before. I've never walked on that side of the street before. I finally feel safe. I feel hopeful."
But not safe enough--yet--to use her real name.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
