Thug Life Army

Hip-hop and rap underground based DVD’s have been around for awhile. We have the Ghetto Fights series and others. Some people really take offense to these kinds of DVD’a. So is the case in Fresno Calif. where nine people have been arrested here after a DVD depicting gangs and crime in the city's southwest and southeast neighborhoods showed up for sale at local stores, police said.

The arrests came 10 days after "Fresno Uncensored" was released June 1 to three area stores, and police viewed the footage.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer called the film "a slap to the face" of the community.

Dyer said investigators have identified up to 10 more people on the tape taking part in criminal activity, adding that additional arrests are pending.

The chief said the DVD glamorized gang life with its scenes of guns, drugs, money and sex.

He said the suspects were seen on the footage participating in street gang activities, selling or possessing drugs, displaying firearms and participating in assaults and reckless driving, among other things.

Of the seven adults who were arrested based on their alleged appearance in the video, three already were in the Fresno County Jail on unrelated felony charges, Dyer said.

The chief identified those three as Brandon Brown, 22, Aldolfo Gomez, 20, and Serafin Ceja, 18.

Authorities identified four other adults held in connection with the DVD as Jeremy Montroy, 25, Jimmy Frausto, 23, Francisco Gonzalez, 18, and Joseph Trinidad. The juveniles were not identified.

Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan declined to say whether charges would be pursued against the DVD's producers.

However, Mainline and Mad Era Films and Production of Fresno defended its work, claiming the DVD was made strictly for entertainment purposes and used props and actors.

Robert Nagule, co-owner of FTK, one of the stores selling the DVDs, disagreed with Dyer's comments and the arrests.

"I don''t understand why he would say that," Nagule said. "What is the difference of people putting these images on a DVD or putting them on TV after 11 o''clock on the news? There is no difference."

Nagule said the store would not stop selling the video.