Before the Crips and Bloods were around, there were other street gangs that roamed the streets of Los Angeles. One of those gangs was the Piru, down in Compton, California.

The name Piru comes from the street Piru that the gang is named after. The Piru Street Boys was the first Piru gang founded in 1969 by founding members Sylvester Scott and Vincent Owens in Compton.

The Piru Street Boys were the considered the first Blood gang to combat the wave of Crip gangs that were sweeping the neighbourhoods in Los Angeles County area.

Do not confuse the two terms though, as there are some Blood gangs that are not considered to be Piru, but all Piru sets are considered to be Blood sets. Which can be confusing.

Who were the founding Leaders

Who were the founders of the Piru? History gives credit to two members, Sylvester Scott and Vincent Owens.

Sylvester Scott was considered to be one of the founding members of the Piru Street Boys, a gang which would eventually recruit other gangs to make an alliance called the Bloods. This alliance would serve to fight against the growing Crips gang that was prevalent in the neighborhoods. The origins of the Piru are not concrete and not everything is 100% known.

Scott was known by law enforcement as the gang leader, and would have convictions for rape and drug dealing.

Sylvester Scott aka Puddin’, would die at 51 years old on Friday ay 12 2006, after being shot in Gardena.

Vincent Owens is also credited to started the Piru Street Boys along side Sylvester Scott. Vincent entered the street life and will go down in history for starting one of the most influential gangs in history. Vincent would spend most of his life going in and out of prison.

He would eventually change his life and served as a bus driver for 25 years for the Metropolitan Transit Authority until his retirement.

Interestingly enough, Vincents brother would take a completely different path. His brother Rafer Owens seeing what his brother was doing decided to join law enforcement and would become the Director of Community Relations at the Compton Sheriff Station. He is also a reverend and served 22 years as the spiritual leader of Faith Inspirational Missionary Baptist Church.

Both brothers now worship together and try to make Compton a better place.

Piru Street Gangs

In 1972 an alliance was made with street gangs that did not want to join the Crips. This alliance would become what we now know as the Bloods, as members of the alliance would call each other bloods, and would wear the color red.

Of this alliance the Piru Street Gang would spread to other hoods creating multiple Piru Sets. The sets that were made were:

• MOB Piru
• Westside Piru
• Fruit Town Piru
• Leuders Park Piru
• Lime Hood Piru
• Elm Street Piru
• Tree Top Piru
• Cedar Block Piru
• Avenue Piru
• Holly Hood Piru
• Neighbourhood Piru
• Skyline Piru
• 151 Piru
• 145 Piru
• Campanella Park Piru
• Cross Atlantic Piru
• Village Town Piru
• 135 Piru
• Eastside Piru
• Circle City Piru
• Pacoima Piru
• Hawthorne Piru
• Scottz Dale Piru
• Valley Hi Piru

Gang Signs and Colors

Piru members like most street gangs use Piru gang signs and colors to represent their hood. Each hood has some distinct things they wear to represent their gang. Some gangs where different hats to show their affiliation.

For example, popular hats among Piru gang members are hats with the P logo on it, like the Phillies hat, Pirates hat, etc. The Cedar Block Piru wear the Cincinnati red hat.

Other Piru gang signs include throwing up the P sign with their hands.