The Grove Street Families are a defunct set of the Families, they were based in Grove Street and other areas in Davis. They are the main gang in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas HD, set in 1992, when the gang was at it's peak.
Information[]
The Grove Street Families were a set a the families, they were founded in 1969, from the East Side Families set by James Williams, though Johnson's activities with the Families would end when he was arrested in 1979. The set repped the colour green, and was one of the biggest gangs in the LS Metro area by 1985, the gang would see some set backs by 1987, with OG members dying, others being addicted to Crack Cocaine, and others getting incarcerated, this led to rivals such as the Ballas be able to take their territory. Though by 1992, they would see an era of redemption, as they would regain territory, and would manage to push the Ballas back, and stop the drug trade in their area, with help by OG's such as CJ, and Ryder. The gang at its peak in 1992, was the biggest gang is Los Santos County, and one of the biggest in Southern San Andreas.
Grove Street Families members, on their turf, riding bikes, 1992.
History[]
Background[]
The Families gang was founded in 1969 by friends James Williams, and Robert Jefferson, to protect their neighbourhood from Latino gangs, the Vagos in particular, they set up two sets, the East Side Families, led by Williams, this set was based around Davis and some of Rancho, and the West Side Families, led by Jefferson, this set was based in Strawberry and Chamberlain Hills. Both James and Robert were notorious in South LS for their use of fists in the streets, due to this the Families grew in influence over South LS.
It was also around this time that the Families would go on to begin repping the Colour Green, it is unknown why the Families began repping the colour, but rumour says, it was when member, Doctor, came to a meeting in Green. From then on out the Families would go on to flag Green, rolling with a Green Bandana on the left side of their hip, and tagging their turf in Green colour spray paint only.
By 1971, Jefferson, the leader of the West Side Families would go on to be arrested for attempted murder. Williams would eventually develop an addiction to PCP, these factors would lead to the downfall of the Families, many sets would form out of the Families, such as Chamberlain Gangster Families and Carson Avenue Families from the West Side Families, and Davis Neighbourhood Families, Orange Street Rancho Families, and Grove Street Families that came from the East Side Families.
Reputation In South LS[]
Grove Street Families was the biggest set in Davis during the 1970's, the Drug Trade around this time was fairly new to the streets, and GSF took the opportunity to sell Weed on the streets. GSF's rule over South East LS, would soon be halted by a new gang, called the Ballas, the Ballas itself was a union of two South San Andreas gangs, the Caps and the Flats, they merged under the name Ballas, after the term 'Baller', someone who makes money. They flagged Purple as a way of unity against the Families and their Green colour.
Grove Street Families would also come into conflict with Latino-based street gangs, their main conflict would be with the Vagos, a Chicano gang under the Banks prison alliance, but they would also have beef with the Varrios Los Aztecas to a lesser extent. The beef with the Vagos was largely due to members attacking black civilians in the Rancho and East LS area. The Vagos and Ballas began to beef due to to similar reasons to this.
Rise to power[]
In 1982, then 17 year old from Grove Street, Sean Johnson, would become leader of the set. He would earn the nickname, Sweet. Sweet was born and raised in Grove Street, as such, the neighborhood was sentimental to him. Around this time the Crack epidemic, had begun to slowly creep into the poorer communities of Los Santos. Sweet had strict views against drugs, and only allowed Weed and PCP to be sold on the Grove and other turf of the set. He began to make links with various weapons dealers and grew GSF’s weaponry, he ruled over his set with an Iron Fist and made sure that everyone was in line.
Sweet, despite only being in his late teens, held authority, and was seen as intimidating, even by older members. His close childhood friends, Lance ‘Ryder’ Wilson, Mark ‘B Dup’ Wayne, and Barry 'Big Bear' Thorne, were all high ranking members. But his best friend, Melvin ‘Big Smoke’ Harris, was the second in command of the set. Sweet's younger brothers, Carl 'CJ' Johnson, and Brian 'Lil Brian' Johnson, were also OG's in the gang. Sweet and Smoke used their links on the streets to make GSF serious money. And as time went on GSF’s influence in the streets increased. By 1985, Grove Street, and the rest of the Families, were the biggest gang in Southern San Andreas, with multiple sets across LS and other counties, and prisons such as Bolingbroke, and Desert Penitentiary mainly being dominated by Families.
Fall[]
In 1987, the Grove would experience their first major loss, with the death of Brian Johnson, the younger brother of Sweet and CJ, at the hands of Ballas in Rancho, at the time Carl was present but failed to act, which led to Sweet blaming him for their brother's death. CJ soon after fled to Liberty City. Also around this time the corrupt C.R.A.S.H branch of the LSPD began to investigate many multiple GSF members, landing many in prison. And many OG's such as Big Devil, Tony, and Little Devil were killed in the war against the Ballas, other OG's like B'Dup and Little Weasel switched to the Ballas side. And the few others became addicted to Crack Cocaine and other hard drugs, leaving Sweet, Big Smoke, and Ryder as the remaining active Grove Street Families OG's. Another Young Member called G Lock would become an active member, but would be incarcerated soon after. Many Families territories were lost to the Ballas and Vagos around this time. And the gang would be in a state of disarray until CJ's return in 1992.