Burbank Shootout: How cop Matthew Pavelka’s murder by Vineland Boys gang led to 36 arrests by 1,300 officers
Police officer Greg Campbell was 20 years in the force when his plans of traveling to Oakland, California, with his son on November 15, 2003, were marred by a tragedy that would change his, and the police department's legacy forever. Campbell was on a regular patrol when he had to request backup on that fateful evening. His backup was a young rookie just 10 months into the force, called Matthew Pavelka. Both the cops were fired at from point-blank range by two men who would later be identified as members of the infamous Vineland Boys. The gunfire, that left one of the gang members dead, also left Campbell gravely injured. As for Pavelka, he became the first cop to die in Burbank Police Department's 82-year-old history.
Documented for the first time as part of a discovery+, three-part docuseries, the Burbank cop shooting of 2003 comes in a crisp little package titled 'American Cartel'. The series has been available for streaming since March 29 and digs deep into the story that unfolded -- the can of worms that Pavelka's murder unraveled in the form of gang violence and drug cartels.
RELATED ARTICLES:
The gunfire that killed Matthew Pavelka
Campbell's suspects were two men -- later identified as Ramon Arranda, and David Garcia -- who were in a black Cadillac Escalade near the Ramada Inn, just outside the Burbank Airport. Campbell noticed there was no license plate and since the area was suspicious for drug dealings, he requested the driver to step out of the vehicle. Campbell had already requested backup, and Pavelka was on the scene, approaching the vehicle by the time the driver, Arranda, got out and opened fire. He shot Campbell in the torso and side of the head, knocking the officer down before Pavelka engaged him. The passenger, Garcia, then stepped out and shot Pavelka repeatedly, after Arranda was fatally wounded.
Garcia fled the scene before the cops approached, but the chilling 911 dispatch of Pavelka as he screams his last words "shots fired" repeatedly was perhaps what drove the police to drag the killer back to justice. When cops approached the Escalade at the scene, the kind of automatic weapons in the car and the quantity of crystal meth led them to speculate the gang -- Vineland Boys -- weren't as small a thing as perceived to be. Soon their connections with Mexican drug cartels were revealed as Garcia reportedly escaped to Mexico where he tried to hide from the police for two weeks.
Operation Silent Night arrests Vineland Boys
Pavelka's murder also drove authorities to launch Operation Silent Night -- an initiative where the local, state, and federal police got together to bring justice to Garcia and make a move on the Vineland Boys, a gang notorious in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Founded in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, in January 1988 by former members and associates of the 18th Street gang, they are made up of mainly Hispanic Americans.
The gang's founder Teddy Lopez, was murdered by Mexican Mafia members in 1998, leading to a rampant clash between the two. They eventually allied up, with the Vineland Boys joining the Mexican Mafia-controlled Sureño gang coalition. With around 300 members, the gang has Armenian Power and the Abergil crime family as its allies, but were ultimately ripped by the federal operation, ending in 23 arrests.
The DEA wrote in a press release "Twenty-three members of the Vineland Boys (VLB) street gang were arrested over the last 24 hours pursuant to a federal racketeering indictment that accuses them of a host of narcotic, weapon and violent crimes, including the murder of a 16-year-old witness and a Burbank Police Officer. Thirteen other defendants are already in custody, including the man accused of pulling the trigger that killed Burbank Police Officer Matthew Pavelka. Eight of the 43 indicted persons remain at large."
They added: "The arrests came [...] as part of Operation Silent Night, in which over 1,300 law enforcement officers executed 43 search warrants, made 36 arrests, and seized 41 guns, over 12 pounds of narcotics (primarily marijuana), and $30,000 cash." Burbank Chief Thomas Hoefel had said at the time, “The police community came together to assist the Burbank Police Department in arresting a Vineland Boys gang member for the murder of Officer Matthew Pavelka. This task force and these indictments represent the continuing cooperative efforts of local and federal law enforcement to wipe out the entire Vineland Boys Gang.”
Why David Garcia killed Matthew Pavelka
The end to Pavelka's shooting also saw "13 additional arrests for a variety of narcotics and weapons violations, as well as arrest warrants, which brings the grand total to 36 arrests for Operations Silent Night." But in the docuseries 'American Cartel', officials talking to the camera often wonder what drives gang members like Garcia to go on such a murderous rampage. An alleged ex-Mexican Mafia member by the name of 'Mundo' who appears in the shadows in the docuseries talks about these gangs giving its members a sense of "identity", to "unleash" all the rage from the injustices suffered.
In a recount of the incident, author Joey Ortega reveals, "Arranda was determined to avoid prison. A few minutes earlier, as Cambell's patrol car had slowly passed by, Arranda whispered to Garcia that prison was not an option. Arranda was not going back to prison." The docuseries recalls Garcia as a 19-year-old swim team member at the time. His accomplice was much older at 25, but it was Garcia who had already fatally shot Pavelka before he fired at the body a few more times. Campbell was already down in a pool of his blood when Garcia killed Pavelka. He recalls how Garcia turned to shoot at his body too but saw him laying in the "pool of blood" and assumed he was dead.
The quest for justice for the 26-year-old officer Matthew Pavelka ended with his killer finally getting arrested after an elaborate manhunt. Garcia was arrested on November 27, 2003, in his Tijuana home in Mexico, and was slammed with charges of first-degree murder, among others, immediately. He pleaded guilty to the murder charges a decade later, on July 24, 2012, and was immediately sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole.