He Was Praised For Escaping Gang Life, Now He's Charged In A Shooting
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- After being held up as an example of how to escape gang life, the founder of one of St. Paul's largest street gangs is in trouble.
James Fields is charged with shooting a man at a bar in St. Paul last week.
That man testified against Fields' brother at a recent trial.
Recently, Fields told reporters about how he escaped gang life. The Pioneer Press produced a video showing Fields talking candidly about a street gang called the East Side Boys.
"We been labeled the East Side Boys by some people, and that title always sticks with us," Fields said.
Fields and four friends started the gang in elementary school, and watched it grow to one of the largest street gangs in St. Paul.
But Fields eventually left after a friend of his was shot and killed.
He appeared to have turned his life around.
"Everybody has a wake-up call, and that was my wake-up call," Fields said.
Fields went to work for the city's parks and rec department as a liaison to help stop gang activity.
And in 2012, he was honored with the chief's award for helping pull free a man who was trapped in a car.
But in May, Fields was charged with burglary and making terroristic threats for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend.
And on Wednesday, he was charged with two counts of second-degree assault. That comes after Fields allegedly shot a man in the leg outside a St. Paul bar.
Fields told police he was aiming in the direction of another man who had testified against his brother during a trial. The victim lived. But for Fields, it appears a troubled past has caught up with him.
"I guess it's sad in that regard, because you'd like to see people succeed," said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. "But at the same time when they fail and they do things like this, when they are shooting guns in the middle of the street at people and actually causing injuries to one of the victims, that's a serious thing."
If convicted of the assault charges, Fields could face more than 10 years in prison.
