______________ VALLEY STREAM _____________
CommUNITY UPDATE Infections as of June 28
8,532
Infections as of June 21 8,528
$1.00
HERALD
Cadets receive award from village
V.S. grad heads to West Point
Track team wins title
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Vol. 32 No. 27
JUlY 1 - 7, 2021
Valley Stream gang member guilty of murder partners at the [New York Police Department], [Nassau County Police Department], Queens disElmer Gutierrez, of Valley trict attorney’s office and FBI Stream, a known MS-13 street Long Island Gang Task Force for gang member, pleaded guilty helping solve these two murJune 23 to taking part in the ders.” December 2018 murder of two On Dec. 15, 2018, 23-year-old young men in Far Rockaway and Far Rockaway resident Ian Cruz, Lawrence. a perceived enemy of MS-13, was Gutierrez, 21, also known as lured to Bayswater Point State Revolver, pleaded Park in Far Rockato second-degree w ay w i t h t h e murder and firstpromise of drugs elmer gutierrez degree conspiracy. and sex. Cruz met will be sentened He will be sena young woman, tenced Aug. 10. then 13, and then aug. 10 after The prison senw a l ke d t o t h e pleading guilty to tence is expected park, while Yonato be 20 years to than Sanche z, taking part in a life. The Nassau Carlos Guerra and december 2018 County district a 15-year-old boy attorney recomallegedly hid in murder. mended a 31-yearthe park ar med to-life sentence. with knives. San“Elmer Gutierchez emerged re z and his co-defendants from the bushes and shot Cruz methodically planned the mur- four times in the head with a .22 der of Ian Cruz for allegedly dis- caliber revolver. respecting MS-13,” Acting D.A. They took Cruz’s belongings Joyce Smith said in a news and fled to an apartment on release. “Just two days later, Nameoke Street in Far RockaGutierrez sliced the neck of way where Sanchez and Guerra 17-year old Harold Sermeno with lived. They had planned Cruz’s a machete after the victim was murder, and photos of Cruz shot multiple times. This sense- allegedly disrespecting MS-13 less violence has no place in our had been circulated among community, and I thank our Continued on page 15
by JEffREY bESSEN jbessen@liherald.com
Courtesy Loretta Coombs
ISAIAh CoombS, of Boy Scout Troop 109, led a project to refurbish the Andrew Fatscher Memorial outside Valley Stream American Legion Post 854.
Eagle Scout candidate repairs American Legion monument by JESSICA m. SEmINS jsemins@liherald.com
Those who have recently passed by Valley Stream American Legion Post 854 may notice that a new project is under way. Isaiah Coombs, of Boy Scout Troop 109, is leading a refurbishment of the Andrew Fatscher memorial monument outside the post to help ensure the community remembers the fallen soldiers that it memorializes. Isaiah, who has been with
Troop 109 since first grade, is a rising sophomore at Valley Stream South High School. He undertook the endeavor as his Eagle Scout project. One requirement of becoming an Eagle Scout — the Boy Scouts’ highest rank — is managing a project to benefit the community. Although Isaiah initially thought he would build a hand-sanitizing station outside the American Legion in response to Covid-19, he ultimately saw a greater need in the community to restore the
memorial. While the American Legion had planned to pressure-wash the bricks this year, Isaiah decided to take the project a step further and reset the bricks in the memorial at an angle, according to Jose Santana, a vice commander with the organization and an Army veteran. This way, people who visit the memorial can better see the names of the soldiers who Continued on page 3