Bounty Hunter Bloods (Watts)

Full Name: Bounty Hunter Bloods (BHB)
Also Known As: Bounty Hunter Bloods, Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods, BHW, BHB
Founded: 1969
Founding Location: Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects, Watts, Los Angeles, California
Years Active: 1969–present
Ethnicity: Predominantly African-American
Cliques/Subsets: Bell Haven, Lot Boys, Block Boys, Ace Line, Deuce Line, Tray Line, Four Line, Five Line, 115th Street
Notable Members: Regis Deon Thomas, Jay Rock, Kevin “Flipside” White, Damion “Fatts” Baker, Bobby “Porky” Watts

The Bounty Hunter Bloods (BHB), also known as the Bounty Hunter Watts Bloods, are a long-standing, predominantly African-American street gang based in the Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects in Watts, Los Angeles, California. They are one of the largest Blood gangs in Watts and have long been the primary gang based in Nickerson Gardens. The gang grew out of an earlier neighborhood group known as the Green Jackets and has remained one of the main gangs in the Watts housing projects for decades.

Court testimony later placed Bounty Hunter membership at more than 2,000 documented members, making the gang one of the largest Black gangs in Watts. That same testimony placed the gang’s core territory in Nickerson Gardens and the surrounding blocks and identified graffiti, robbery, drug sales, and shootings as its main activities.

History And Early Origins

The Bounty Hunter Bloods trace their roots to Nickerson Gardens in the late 1960s. Before adopting the Bounty Hunter name, the neighborhood group was known as the Green Jackets. Local gang histories identify Gary Barker, known as “Straw Dog,” and Bobby Jack as early founders of the Green Jackets. During the transition from neighborhood club to street gang, other early figures such as Junior Thomas and Percy Jackson were tied to the formation of the Bounty Hunters, with Percy Jackson often credited with helping introduce the Bounty Hunter name.

By the early 1970s, the Green Jackets had evolved into the Bounty Hunters. As the Blood identity took shape in Los Angeles during the early-to-mid 1970s, the gang became part of that broader alignment as rival Crip gangs expanded through nearby housing projects and neighborhoods in South Los Angeles. Like PJ Watts Crips in Imperial Courts and Grape Street Watts Crips in Jordan Downs, the Bounty Hunters developed inside a major public housing project rather than a spread-out residential hood. That kept the gang rooted in Nickerson Gardens and tied its identity directly to the housing project.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the Bounty Hunter Bloods grew into one of the major gangs in Watts. The crack era expanded the gang’s drug trade and intensified the violence around Nickerson Gardens, reinforcing the project’s reputation as Bounty Hunter territory. By the early 1990s, the Bounty Hunters were one of the major gangs in Watts alongside Grape Street Watts Crips, PJ Watts Crips, and Hacienda Village Bloods.

Territory

Bounty Hunter Bloods are based in the Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects, one of the largest public housing developments in Los Angeles. Their hood runs through Nickerson Gardens, generally between Imperial Highway and 114th Street, from Central Avenue to Compton Avenue, though court testimony has at times described the gang as claiming Nickerson Gardens and its surrounding blocks more broadly.

Opened in 1954, Nickerson Gardens was designed by architect Paul Revere Williams, but over time the project also became the core base of the Bounty Hunter Bloods. The gang’s clique structure developed around the individual lines, blocks, and sections of the housing complex, reinforcing its identity as a Nickerson Gardens set.

Nickerson Gardens sits next to other major gang territories in Watts, including Imperial Courts, home of PJ Watts Crips, and Jordan Downs, home of Grape Street Watts Crips. Those borders placed the Bounty Hunters next to some of their longest-running allies and rivals in Watts.

Identity and Cliques

Bounty Hunter Bloods is a project-based Blood gang with a long-standing internal clique structure. Their better-known cliques include Bell Haven, Lot Boys, Block Boys, Ace Line on 111th Street, Deuce Line on 112th Street, Tray Line on 113th Street, Four Line on 114th Street, and Five Line on 115th Street. Court testimony in the Bobby Watts case specifically identified 115th Street as a Bounty Hunter subset.

Members identify the gang through the initials “BHW” and the color red, along with tattoos using the letters “B” and “H” for Bounty Hunters. In the Bobby Watts case, prosecutors also introduced evidence that Watts used the email handle gkporkybhw115, with a gang expert testifying that “GK” stood for “Grape Killer,” “BHW” stood for Bounty Hunter Watts, and “115” referred to the 115th Street clique in Nickerson Gardens.

Like other long-standing Watts gangs, the Bounty Hunters have been organized more around clique ties, neighborhood standing, and older members than around any formal hierarchy. Older members and established clique figures traditionally carry influence inside the set.

Documented Incidents

The Hawkins Grocery Store Retaliation (1983)

One of the earliest major incidents tied to the Bounty Hunter Bloods came in 1983 after a confrontation at a grocery store owned by the Hawkins family in Watts. During the original incident, Anttwon Thomas, a 19-year-old Bounty Hunter member, was shot and killed by James Henry Hawkins Jr., the son of the store owner.

The killing triggered retaliation by Bounty Hunter associates, who launched attacks on the Hawkins home and businesses over the next two nights. The violence included drive-by shootings and harassment serious enough that police had to guard the property. In the aftermath, 17 Bounty Hunter members and associates were convicted in connection with the retaliatory attacks, while Hawkins Jr. was later convicted of manslaughter in the original shooting. The case became one of the earliest well-documented examples of Bounty Hunter retaliation in Watts.

The Watts Truce (1992)

The Bounty Hunter Bloods were one of the gangs involved in the 1992 Watts Truce, alongside PJ Watts Crips, Grape Street Watts Crips, and Hacienda Village Bloods. The truce was one of the most important peace efforts in modern Watts gang history and temporarily reduced some of the violence between the major housing-project gangs in the area.

The truce did not erase the gang’s long-running feud with Grape Street, and later violence showed that the peace was limited and unstable.

The Murders of Officers Kevin Burrell and James MacDonald (1993)

On February 22, 1993, Regis Deon Thomas, a documented member of the Bounty Hunter Bloods, shot and killed Compton Police Officer Kevin Michael Burrell and Reserve Officer James Wayne MacDonald during a traffic stop in Compton. According to prosecutors, Thomas opened fire after the stop, then walked up to the officers and shot them again at close range while they were on the ground. The killings became one of the most notorious crimes tied to the Bounty Hunter Bloods. In 1995, Thomas was sentenced to death.

The murders were especially significant because Burrell and MacDonald were the first Compton police officers killed in the line of duty in the department’s history.

Federal Crack Cases and the 2004 Nickerson Gardens Sweep

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, federal and local authorities were increasingly focused on the Bounty Hunter Bloods’ crack cocaine trade in Nickerson Gardens. Around 2000, a major federal narcotics case resulted in the conviction of roughly 30 Bounty Hunter members for selling crack cocaine in Watts.

That pressure escalated in January 2004, when hundreds of LAPD officers, FBI agents, and federal investigators carried out pre-dawn raids in and around Nickerson Gardens, arresting dozens of suspects tied to the Bounty Hunter Bloods. The operation targeted a long-running crack distribution ring and was described by officials as an effort to hit the gang’s leadership and drug network at its base in Watts. Weapons, narcotics, and other evidence were seized during the raids. The sweep was one of the largest law-enforcement actions directed at the Bounty Hunter Bloods and centered on the gang’s crack trade in Nickerson Gardens.

The Murder of Floyd Videau (2013)

On June 23, 2013, Bobby “Porky” Watts, a documented member of the Bounty Hunter Bloods, shot and killed Floyd Videau, a member of PJ Watts Crips, inside Imperial Courts. According to the evidence summarized in the appellate opinion, Watts traveled into the rival housing project in the early morning hours and opened fire on Videau at a playground. Prosecutors argued the killing benefited the Bounty Hunters by reinforcing the gang’s violent reputation and sending a message to rivals and witnesses.

The killing is one of the clearest modern cases involving violence between members of the Bounty Hunter Bloods and PJ Watts Crips. Watts was convicted of murder, although the later appeal focused heavily on the gang enhancement and trial court review of the gang evidence rather than the basic murder conviction itself.

The Killing of Kevin “Flipside” White (2013)

On September 23, 2013, Kevin “Flipside” White, a member of the rap group O.F.T.B. and a figure tied to the Bounty Hunter Bloods, was shot and killed in Watts. His death came during a period of renewed tension in Watts and was widely tied to the long-running conflict involving Bounty Hunter Bloods, Grape Street, and nearby gangs.

Operation Loyalty Matters/Damion “Fatts” Baker (2019–2023)

A major modern federal case tied to the Bounty Hunter Bloods came out of Operation Loyalty Matters, an investigation targeting crack cocaine distribution in and around Nickerson Gardens. Federal prosecutors alleged that Damion “Fatts” Baker, a Bounty Hunter member, led a conspiracy that obtained powder cocaine, cooked it into crack cocaine, and sold it through stash houses and hand-to-hand transactions in Bounty Hunter territory. Tony “T-Bone” Carr was identified as Baker’s second-in-command in the operation.

In April 2021, federal authorities unsealed indictments charging 22 Bounty Hunter members and associates in the broader takedown. Baker later pleaded guilty and in December 2023 was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. Carr pleaded guilty earlier and was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison. The case showed that Bounty Hunter crack distribution in Nickerson Gardens remained active well into the 2020s.

In Entertainment

The Bounty Hunter Bloods have had a major presence in Watts rap history and gang media. Rapper Jay Rock, one of the most recognizable artists from Watts, is from the Bounty Hunter Bloods. The gang is also closely tied to O.F.T.B. (Operation From The Bottom), the Watts rap group that later released music through Death Row Records.

Because of their size, long history in Nickerson Gardens, and ties to Watts rap, the Bounty Hunters remain one of the best-known gangs to come out of the Watts housing projects.

Allies and Rivals

Bounty Hunter Bloods have long had ties to Hacienda Village Bloods and Circle City Piru. They have also had periods of cooperation with the PJ Watts Crips, especially during and after the 1992 Watts Truce. That relationship has never been as simple as a permanent alliance, but the two gangs have aligned at different times, particularly when both were warring with Grape Street.

The Bounty Hunters’ main rival has historically been the Grape Street Watts Crips, the dominant Crip gang in Jordan Downs. Gang investigators and later court testimony have described the Bounty Hunter–Grape Street feud as one of the longest-running and most violent gang conflicts in Watts.

The gang has also had conflicts with 118 East Coast Crips, Front Street Watts Crips, and Fudge Town Mafia Crips. In addition, the Bounty Hunters have had friction with West Side Piru, a rivalry tied to  local neighborhood tensions between Watts and nearby Compton sets. At different points, PJ Watts Crips have also been identified as rivals in court testimony and case histories, even though the two gangs have also had periods of cooperation.

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