Going to see Rick Ross tonight!!

[t.c.o.p.]

They're ruthless up there.



Anchorage, Alaska - Friends, classmates and family continue to rally behind six teenagers accused in a home invasion that took place nearly a year ago. They have asked why it took so long to make the arrests and what evidence police have of a gang connection.

The Anchorage Police Department claims its case was built using victim and neighbor interviews, as well as interviews with at least three of the accused young men. The teens -- athletes and honor students -- are now caught up in what may be the trouble of their lives. A look at their lives online shows that perhaps they are flirting with danger.

APD says the teens' arrests mark the beginning of a larger crackdown on gangs and violent crime in the city.

"Six youths who committed crimes are being held accountable," said APD spokesman Lt. Paul Honeman.

But people who know and like the teens say police have it wrong. Service High School wrestling coach Matt Unterberger said he does not believe his students, specifically 18-year-old Ryan Skrukrud and 17-year-old Keith Evangelista, are part of a gang.

"Where are the grounds to prove they are part of a gang? They are kind of in the dark and are very surprised that they have been put into this lockdown 11 months after an incident that they thought was over," Unterberger said.

But could it be that there is more going on than the students have shared?

Police allege Skrukrud and Evangelista were involved in a home invasion last New Year's Eve as members or associates of the "Fam Bam" gang, along with the four other teenagers currently in police custody.

In that home invasion, prosecutor Daniel Garcia claims that victims were beaten with a baseball bat and hit over the head with an air pistol and speaker stands.

One MySpace page is registered to someone who calls themselves "Fam Bam Soljah." The page claims its owner lives in Anchorage and its profile headline is "Shoot first, ask questions later."

Police believe 16-year-old high school student Vladimir Gassomov is one of Fam Bam's founders. He, too, is under arrest, but unlike the others, he will be treated as a juvenile.

Police say Michael Manufekai joined the gang soon after, followed by Kaniela Lavea, Deontae Daniels and Evangelista.

"There is clear concern. There is no question that these are all gang signs," said Carol Comeau, who is superintendent of the Anchorage School District.

Belonging to a gang is not a crime under state or federal laws. Curbing gang violence and disruption is, however, a community priority. And in the popular online community of MySpace, implicit images emerge that beg the question: how many teens are flirting with danger undetected?

Another MySpace member claims to be an Anchorage high school student who knows the suspected gang members.

Comeau compared the opposite lifestyles of the young men at school to their "alter egos" in MySpace and likened it to the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

"I mean, you've got two separate lives," Comeau said.

The next step for the teens is to convince the court that police got it wrong in order to clear their names. Supporters of the arrested teens continue to stand by them, claiming APD's case against them is weak and based on unsubstantiated hearsay.

Meanwhile, the students want to get home and back to school.

The school district said it is unclear whether the students would be immediately allowed to return to school. School officials added they intend to determine what type of disruption, if any, may be caused by the students' resumption of schooling after the arrests.

School officials also want to know whether police think the alleged gang involvement has any kind of school connection.

Comeau said there may be other options if the students are not able to return to school and that their cases will be reviewed individually.

LOL...yeah, i no a couple of the dudes involved with that...its a really big deal throughout a couple of the high schools in anchorage, pretty funny shit..."fam bam" is "known" around anchorage for being pretty "hardcore". ionno, i dont like to involve myself in all that tom foolery...but some of the "fam bammers" are cool dudes

[evan the dude]

They're ruthless up there.



Anchorage, Alaska - Friends, classmates and family continue to rally behind six teenagers accused in a home invasion that took place nearly a year ago. They have asked why it took so long to make the arrests and what evidence police have of a gang connection.

The Anchorage Police Department claims its case was built using victim and neighbor interviews, as well as interviews with at least three of the accused young men. The teens -- athletes and honor students -- are now caught up in what may be the trouble of their lives. A look at their lives online shows that perhaps they are flirting with danger.

APD says the teens' arrests mark the beginning of a larger crackdown on gangs and violent crime in the city.

"Six youths who committed crimes are being held accountable," said APD spokesman Lt. Paul Honeman.

But people who know and like the teens say police have it wrong. Service High School wrestling coach Matt Unterberger said he does not believe his students, specifically 18-year-old Ryan Skrukrud and 17-year-old Keith Evangelista, are part of a gang.

"Where are the grounds to prove they are part of a gang? They are kind of in the dark and are very surprised that they have been put into this lockdown 11 months after an incident that they thought was over," Unterberger said.

But could it be that there is more going on than the students have shared?

Police allege Skrukrud and Evangelista were involved in a home invasion last New Year's Eve as members or associates of the "Fam Bam" gang, along with the four other teenagers currently in police custody.

In that home invasion, prosecutor Daniel Garcia claims that victims were beaten with a baseball bat and hit over the head with an air pistol and speaker stands.

One MySpace page is registered to someone who calls themselves "Fam Bam Soljah." The page claims its owner lives in Anchorage and its profile headline is "Shoot first, ask questions later."

Police believe 16-year-old high school student Vladimir Gassomov is one of Fam Bam's founders. He, too, is under arrest, but unlike the others, he will be treated as a juvenile.

Police say Michael Manufekai joined the gang soon after, followed by Kaniela Lavea, Deontae Daniels and Evangelista.

"There is clear concern. There is no question that these are all gang signs," said Carol Comeau, who is superintendent of the Anchorage School District.

Belonging to a gang is not a crime under state or federal laws. Curbing gang violence and disruption is, however, a community priority. And in the popular online community of MySpace, implicit images emerge that beg the question: how many teens are flirting with danger undetected?

Another MySpace member claims to be an Anchorage high school student who knows the suspected gang members.

Comeau compared the opposite lifestyles of the young men at school to their "alter egos" in MySpace and likened it to the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

"I mean, you've got two separate lives," Comeau said.

The next step for the teens is to convince the court that police got it wrong in order to clear their names. Supporters of the arrested teens continue to stand by them, claiming APD's case against them is weak and based on unsubstantiated hearsay.

Meanwhile, the students want to get home and back to school.

The school district said it is unclear whether the students would be immediately allowed to return to school. School officials added they intend to determine what type of disruption, if any, may be caused by the students' resumption of schooling after the arrests.

School officials also want to know whether police think the alleged gang involvement has any kind of school connection.

Comeau said there may be other options if the students are not able to return to school and that their cases will be reviewed individually.

LOL...yeah, i no a couple of the dudes involved with that...its a really big deal throughout a couple of the high schools in anchorage, pretty funny shit..."fam bam" is "known" around anchorage for being pretty "hardcore". ionno, i dont like to involve myself in all that tom foolery...but some of the "fam bammers" are cool dudes

haha shit is crazy. i remember seein somethin on the news about that.

well, the concert was OK....nothing extremely special. i got the opportunity to get front and center right on the stage so that was a plus....however, ross is one of those rappers that screams into the mic when he performs, making the music almost unbearable... there was a good number of people there for the size of the club, it was pretty packed....lots of chicas  i never realized how fuckin huge rick ross is, dude is a fucking fat giant. even his bodyguards looked small in comparison! the whole performance he had 2 of his rappin homies with him...didn't recognize them, but they were all wearing huge ass carol city cartel pendants. all in all i was disappointed with the songs, he only did about 6...and we were sittin in the club waitin for his ass for like and hour and a half. so all in all, it was a pretty cool experience, it just wasn't worth $40. my highlight of the night was talkin to the DJ after everyone had left the dance floor to go back to the bar. dude was cool as hell, i asked him to bump some dj quik and he threw it on. he started scratchin to it and everything. shit was pimp!  if it don't make dollaz...... 

[Nutty]

Police say Michael Manufekai joined the gang soon after, followed by Kaniela Lavea, Deontae Daniels and Evangelista.

What's a Tongan & a Samoan doing up in Alaska? It's too cold, lol

[evan the dude]

Police say Michael Manufekai joined the gang soon after, followed by Kaniela Lavea, Deontae Daniels and Evangelista.

What's a Tongan & a Samoan doing up in Alaska? It's too cold, lol

you'd be surprised how many there actually are up here. its kinda weird...anchorage has quite the asian population as well....

[We Fly High]

yeah. Rick Ross seems pretty poor at live performing, maybe one of the worst ive seen (only seen him on BET hiphopawards, but that gave me a pretty good indication). like you said, hes too big of a giant to  be like runnin around and doing a good show, and from the rhymes on his cds, it seems like he would have a hard time with his breath control when performing live, cos most of his rhymes are like just straight one line at a time.