Stanley Williams - Early Delinquent Behavior

Early Delinquent Behavior

By the time Williams reached his teens he had gained a reputation on the West Side as a vicious street fighter. Williams was expelled from several high schools in South Central L.A. for fighting and had begun doing stints in juvenile hall. In the late 1960s juvenile crime increased in South Central L.A. as new youth gangs formed after older gangs such as the Slausons and the Gladiators disbanded and its members joined the Black Power Movement, most notably as part of the Black Panther Party. Initially Williams despised the predatory street gangs in South Central. Because of his viciousness and willingness to fight older youths, many of whom belonged to small-time street gangs, Williams earned the respect of many neighborhood thugs on the West Side who were leaders of their own small-time cliques.

At age fifteen Williams befriended a teenager named Donald "Doc" Archie. Archie was part of a small-time West Side clique and Williams earned the clique's respect quickly after beating up one of their members for insulting his mother. As Williams' violent reputation began to spread across South Central L.A. he became the unofficial leader of this clique.

In 1970, at age sixteen, Williams was arrested in Inglewood, California for stealing a car and was sent to the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, California. While doing time at the detention center Williams was introduced to weightlifting by the facilities' gym coach. This experience would spark Williams' interest in bodybuilding as he became physically bigger and stronger by the time of his release from custody in early 1971. According to Williams, upon his release from custody, the review board asked him what he planned to do after being released. A seventeen year old Williams replied that he planned on "being the leader of the biggest gang in the world."