Sometimes your enemy lives right next door.

On the surface, he was an average teenage boy.  A star athlete who refused to do his homework, Jason Kyler* was popular with almost everyone in his home town of Williamsburg, Va.  However, Kyler had one secret that no one, not even his family, knew about.

Kyler was in a gang. 

Born into a family that was preoccupied with work and family problems, Kyler was looking for a place to belong.  And he found it – in the local Bloods gang which he joined at the age of 15. 

“I joined for a sense of belonging,” Kyler said.  “My parents were never around and didn’t care what I did.”  Kyler and a close friend were the youngest members of the gang and were about to embark on a three-year crime spree that neither parents nor local authorities seemed to care about. 

“It started with dealing drugs for about 6 months, then I got into stealing cars.”  Stealing cars became Kyler’s main hobby and some nights he and his friends could steal three to four cars within an hour in downtown Williamsburg.  “I didn’t mind stealing cars.  I figured it was a minor nuisance but people were insured so it didn’t really matter.”

Williamsburg, a huge tourist local in southern Va., was the perfect place for his criminal activities.  The huge inflow of tourists ensured plenty of new bait, especially during the summer months. 

“There were a couple of close calls,” Kyler said.  “Several times the cops followed me while I was driving in a stolen car.  But it hadn’t been called in yet so it was no big deal.”  He also said that there were “chop shops” throughout the city so he never had to drive very far.

“Sometimes a police car would pull up next to mine at a red light.  But they just waved and asked me if I had a new car.  I always said it was a friend’s.”  Because of his superior record in sports, he was often treated as a local hero.  “It was a close knit area.  No one ever suspected me.  Plus, I had an in because I was dating the Sheriff’s daughter and was a local sports hero.  Even when the cops came to break up wild parties they just let me out the back.”

The son of a senior CIA officer, Kyler was not worried about getting caught.  “People in my position were always released.  I was caught egging a house once when I was a kid, but while my friends spent a few hours in jail, they let me go right away because of my Dad.”

However, after three years of close calls and hanging out with fellow gang members who were getting caught, Kyler decided to get out of the gang at the age of 18.  “People were doing really stupid things like assault with a gun.  I didn’t want to go to jail.  And after that I moved so it really didn’t matter.”

Although he is remorseful of some of the crimes he committed, Kyler believes that his experiences enriched his life.  He also would not advise people today against joining a gang.  “At that age you think you’re invincible and no one listens.”

While he currently struggles with maintaining a normal job, Kyler has stopped all of his gang-related activities.  He has given up both drugs and his gun and eventually hopes to go to college.  

*Name has been changed to ensure protection