West Side Gator Boyz were one of Dallas' most notorious street gangs. Born from the surprising merger of Crips and Bloods – the Hatfields and McCoys of modern-day street gangs – the Gator Boyz dominated the drug trade in West Dallas, authorities say.They say the gang, numbering between 30 and 50 members and led by brothers Tyrone and Patrick Weatherall, maintained control over its enterprise and the neighborhood with a shrewd business approach to organization and a silent intimidation so encompassing that it rarely, if ever, required members to use physical violence.The Weatherall brothers amassed a cache of weapons, cash and property, including a ranch with exotic animals that authorities say they often used to entice children as young as 14 to sell drugs or serve as lookouts in and around about 30 drug houses throughout West Dallas.
"It's sad because these kids that are out there in this neighborhood, they see this [behavior] as acceptable, and that in and of itself does harm," said Dallas police gang Detective Danny Torres, who along with federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agent April Howell, headed the three-year investigation of the gang.
"To them, it's acceptable to see drug houses, it's acceptable to see dope dealers, it's acceptable to go to jail. I wanted to change that," he said.
Working undercover and with informants, local and federal authorities arrested nearly 20 Gator Boyz members in recent months. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater accepted Tyrone Weatherall's guilty plea to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine and sentenced the 35-year-old to almost 22 years in prison.
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