Two shot at East Locust apartments

In yet another case of violence in the 400 block of East Locust Street, two men were shot Friday night. Police said injuries were minor.

Uzair Muhammad, 36, and Azhar Khan, 29, both from Lodi, were shot with a shotgun after they got into an argument with several young Hispanic males, according to Lodi Police Sgt. Lance Hayden.

The incident was reported at 10:26 p.m. Friday at 408 E. Locust St., between Central Avenue and Garfield Street.

"We thought it was a double-homicide," said Locust Street resident David Nielsen, who has organized a group of concerned residents to fight the violence that plagues Locust Street.

"We were very upset," Nielsen said. "We were saying we were not moving quickly enough. This shooting is a perfect example of why we need to band together. This illustrates the point that there is regular violence and firearms being fired."

Nielsen said that 35 households between the 300 and 500 blocks of East Locust Street have banded together to work with the Lodi Police Department and seek legal recourse against apartment landlords for allowing the violence to continue.

More than 800 incidents from traffic stops to stabbings and shootings have taken place on Locust Street between Sacramento Street and Cherokee Lane, police said. One apartment complex alone had 42 calls for police service in the past year, police said.

Violence on East Locust Street has decreased in recent weeks since police have added patrol cars and officers to troubled Eastside areas. The extra patrol was on duty over the weekend, Hayden said.

Spilios Aliferis, who lives in the 500 block of East Locust Street, said his block is peaceful and has some very nice people living there, but the 400 block has a lot of apartment dwellers causing problems.

Many people visit the neighborhood and ask residents to let them sleep in their residence for the night in exchange for cash, Aliferis said.

"The landlords should pay attention to how many people go in and out of the apartments," he added.

Aliferis, who has lived in the area for 23 or 24 years, said it isn't too violent on Locust Street as long as you leave people there alone.

"You give them no problems, they'll give you no problems," Aliferis said. "There are generally nice people around here."

At least a dozen people on Locust Street and at nearby Hale Park said they don't speak English when asked their reaction to Friday's shooting. One woman in the 500 block of East Locust said she had no comment and that any comment from the neighborhood would have to come from Nielsen.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

First published: Monday, July 24, 2006

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Lodi wrote on Aug 2, 2006 8:09 PM:

" Oh great, now South Hayward thinks he's Vanilla Ice. "

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