Angel Llorens was afiliated with the 'Team Built' club. The man charged with killing him is a member of the rival 'Backyard Built' club, police said.
A profile photo appearing on the Facebook page of Angel Llorens, uploaded on May 13, 2013.SPRINGFIELD -- The theft of a sticker from a car belonging to Angel Llorens -- an act that set off a confrontation that led to the shooting death of the 22-year-old last month near his Hollywood Street home -- was one in a series of incidents involving a rivalry between two clubs that conduct illegal street races, according to court documents.
Police incident narratives included in the court docket state that Llorens had a sticker on the front of his black Honda Civic apparently denoting his affiliation with the "Team Built" club, and 22-year-old Benjamin Rivera, a member of a rival club known as "Backyard Built", is believed to have peeled the sticker off as it sat parked in front of the victim's Hollywood Street home.
Rivera, ultimately charged with killing Llorens, was ordered held without right to bail during his arraignment Tuesday in District Court.
An investigative report by Springfield detective Timothy Kenney states that prior to May 23 shooting each of the clubs had been involved in acts intended to disrespect the rival club.
Acts of retaliation involved removing stickers from their rivals' cars and burning them. Such incidents, Kenney wrote in his report, were sometimes recorded on video and posted to YouTube.
YouTube searches on the late-at-night world of the Greater Springfield illegal street racing scene shows numerous examples of races, some involving members of the two clubs.
Rivera and others were on Daytona Street just before the shooting, talking about racing cars, when they saw the black Honda Civic owned by Llorens with its “Team Built” sticker drive by, according to Kenney's report.
The Honda passed the group, took a right onto Belmont Avenue and then “squared the block” and passed by them again, according to Kenney’s report.
When the vehicle passed by a second time, Rivera -- referred to as “Benji” in the report -- started talking with other members of the group about stealing the sticker. "Benji was the one excited about taking the sticker but it was the consensus of the group," Kenney wrote.
A witness told Kenney that he did not witness the theft of the sticker but heard “Benji” bragging about it a short time later, according to the report.
Llorens, upset over the theft of the sticker, approached the group and demanded to know who had it, according to the report.
A peacemaker, apparently affiliated with the “Backyard Built” club, then offered to pay for the sticker and said he would go to his home to get some money, the report states.
A witness told police that he then heard somebody say "I am not afraid of," and then heard gunshots, according to the report.
Rivera and the others fled after the shooting, according to the report.
Llorens, shot in the chest and legs, was taken by AMR ambulance to Baystate Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Rivera was arrested in front of the police station on Pearl Street Monday afternoon. During his arraignment he denied charges of murder, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.
A pre-trial hearing has been set for July 23.
Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said Friday the investigation is ongoing. Police, citing the investigation, have taken the rare step of not releasing Rivera's booking photo.