Official News page 7

REAL LIFE NEWS: THE DANGEROUS WORLD OF THE MARIACHI BAND

by Hazed

There are certain industries that you expect to be involved with criminal activities: book-makers, for example. Or arms manufacturers. But generally musicians are not people you would associate with crime. Not until now, anyway.

Proof that even the makers of sweet music can become deranged and dangerous is the news report recently about the leader of a popular mariachi band in Denver, who is now in jail, having been accused of holding another band member at gunpoint for hours. The reason? The poor victim had said he was leaving the band to join a rival mariachi band.

Denver police arested 32-year-old Leonardo "Fidel" Berrelleza in early January and charged him with kidnapping, false imprisonment, menacing and assault.

Fidel had led a three-man group, "Toros de la Sierra", for three years. The trio played at restaurants, bars and private events. But 52-year-old bass and guitar player Ervey Ruiz wanted to move on to another group, because he had got tired of their hard partying ways."Every day these guys drink, drink, drink," he said. "I go to practice every day, they drink."

When Ruiz told his leader he wanted to defect, one day after practice, he "became angry and told the victim he was not going to let him leave," according to the local police. He pulled a pistol, "pointed it at him and told him he was going to kill him." Ruiz was held at gunpoint for five hours, while Fidel uttered homicidal threats the whole time. Finally, he fired some shots into the ceiling, at which point Ruiz tried to wrestle the gun away from him, and then fled.

Ruiz said he is much happier with his new band, and Fidel is in jail on a $100,000 bond, awaiting a preliminary hearing.

Who knew that mariachi bands could be quite so dangerous?

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