About the Vernon Market

Over the years, the liquor store at the corner of Harrison and Pearl Street has been a source of neighborhood contention. It is primarily patronized by associates of the Pearl Street Gang, an offshoot of the Circle Boys, that commute to the neighborhood in order to sell drugs on the street. (Those little airplane liquor bottles are kept in stock just for them.) A number of shootings, including one homicide, has occurred in the vicinity of the Vernon Market, in addition to ongoing nuisance activity that includes loitering and public urination. Although, truth be told, the nuisance activity has dramatically diminished since the neighborhood got organized a year or so ago.

People to look out for
Joey McWoodson, a leader of the Pearl Street gang who has a stay-away order for the neighborhood, reliably turns up at the Vernon Market. McWoodson is a medium-size African American man with dark skin, large brown eyes and braids that hang to the middle of his back. You've probably noticed him: he's the guy who likes to walk around without his shirt on.

Where the dealers are
If you are new to the neighborhood and wondering where all the action is, favorite places to deal include the corner of 29th Street and Harrison, Stanley Place and until recently, Oak Park. Those guys you see loitering around, yep, they're dealing. It is true that these guys will sell you marijuana (along with other drugs) but they will also hold you up while you are walking down the street early in the morning or walking home from Whole Foods. So by all means fight for the legalization of marijuana and patronize your local dispensary, but please think twice before encouraging violence in our community. If you see activity please call 510-777-3333, and join the dozens of other neighbors who are fighting for to keep our little corner of Oakland safe. You can also call the 510-238-3784, the anonymous drug hotline.

Stay-away order for neighborhood drug dealer: Elijah Isiah Jones

 Elijah Isiah Jones, 21, also known as "Juicy," (far left) received a second stay-away order from the neighborhood from Judge Carrie Panetta and was sentenced to 180 days in jail after being arrested repeatedly for selling drugs, including cocaine base, in the neighborhood. His last offense, on March 22, 2012, occurred while he was out on bail for previous offenses. At a hearing on April 10, 2012, Jones was sentenced to five years of probation for the drug offenses, and he received a stay-away order to keep 300 yards away from the 400 block of Fairmount (a notorious rendezvous for dealers) and 300 yards away from the 100 block of Stanley Place (the handoff spot of choice). Jones almost immediately violated the order, and was arrested again, which is how he came to be sentenced by Judge Panetta, who on May 23, 2012, in the excellent tradition of Alameda County judges, immediately gave Jones 90 days credit and cut his sentence in half.

 You can be on the lookout for him to join his friends around the Vernon Market area and Stanley Place in August.

 If the name "Juicy" sounds familiar, in the spring of 2008, a juvenile who went by the street name of "Juicy" alleged held up neighbors on the corner of Oakland Avenue and Pearl Street with a fully loaded semiautomatic. As of May 2008, "Juicy" was in jail on weapons charges. It is not known whether they were related to the alleged incident on Oakland Avenue or not.

 The picture above is from a Photobucket account and was titled "Thugginonpearl.jpg" It follows a picture of a large quantity of prescription cough syrup called "syrup."

 Since the "ThugginonPearl" photo was taken a few years ago, Elijah Jones got in a knife fight and almost lost an eye. As a result he's been under the care of the Bay Area Retina Associates at 491 30th Street. This came up in court discussion of the restraining order because it is about 1 mile from the HarriOak neighborhood. A more recent picture of Jones is here:
 

As far as we know, he's never lived in the neighborhood. When he was arrested his address was 775 15th Street, which is a 28 minute commute if you take the 51A bus.