Pubdate: Tue, 25 Apr 2006
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2006 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Jonathan Abrams, Times Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

57 HELD AS POMONA GANG IS TARGETED

Multi-agency sweep comes two years after a wannabe murdered a Highway 
Patrol officer.

Two years after a CHP officer was gunned down by a teenager trying to 
impress a notorious Pomona gang, state and local authorities arrested 
57 people linked to the gang's alleged drug trafficking, gun buys and 
street violence, officials said Monday.

The arrests in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, targeting the 
12th Street Pomona gang also known as the Sharkies, were the result 
of a yearlong investigation dubbed Operation Fishnet that involved 
telephone wiretaps, informants and undercover agents, state Atty. 
Gen. Bill Lockyer said.

"These criminal enterprises destroy communities and shatter innocent 
lives with their evolving criminal tactics," Lockyer said. "Through 
the hard work of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, 
we are committed to taking back the streets."

The investigation was launched after California Highway Patrol 
Officer Thomas J. Steiner was shot and killed outside a Pomona 
courthouse in April 2004 by a 16-year-old who told police he was 
trying to prove himself to the 12th Street gang.

Valentino Arenas told authorities he was not targeting Steiner, a 
35-year-old father of two from Long Beach, but that he wanted to 
shoot any lawman he could find.

Arenas pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and is serving a life 
sentence without the possibility of parole at the California 
Institution for Men in Chino. Because of Arenas' age, he was not 
eligible for the death penalty.

"I sincerely hope the arrests resulting from this investigation bring 
a sense of justice to the Steiner family and relief from fear and 
intimidation to the citizens of Pomona," Will Telish, director of the 
Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task 
Force, said in a statement.

Charges ranged from conspiracy to commit murder to weapons and 
drug-related violations. Authorities also seized 6 pounds of 
methamphetamine, 18 pounds of methamphetamine ice, 14 grams of 
cocaine, 36 grams of heroin and $23,000, along with dozens of 
firearms, including an AK-47.

Those arrested ranged from ages 22 to 49 and included several 
females. Authorities are still searching for eight additional suspects.

Almost 30 agencies were involved in the gang sweep, including the 
Pomona Police Department, the state Department of Justice and 
Steiner's agency, the CHP.

"It seems like it was just yesterday when [Steiner's] death took 
place," Pomona Police Chief James M. Lewis said. "We want to send a 
message to the gangs that they are going to pay a price, and to the 
youth, that these people are not acceptable role models."

The Legislature decided in January to rename a stretch of the Pomona 
Freeway, from Phillips Ranch Road through Reservoir Street, after 
Steiner, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said gang crime could be 
prosecuted and curtailed only with the help of the families of gang 
members. He added they were in a position to stop the violence before 
it started.

"It goes without saying there is only so much we can do," Cooley 
said. "If the families don't help, they are the ones who are, in a 
sense, aiding and abetting murders in Los Angeles County."

Pomona, a city of nearly 170,000 about 30 miles east of Los Angeles, 
has long been considered a hotbed of gang activity, where members 
engage in violent initiation rituals and spirited turf wars. The area 
was under such duress that mail service was interrupted for more than 
a year along one neighborhood block after a postal carrier became 
frightened after witnessing a shooting.

The 12th Street gang -- which has close ties to the Mexican Mafia, 
one of California's most powerful prison gangs -- uses the shark as 
its symbol and has spread into western San Bernardino County.

It has about 1,000 active members and associates, with several 
hundred more in jail or prison, and dates back generations.

The gang's criminal enterprises include large-scale drug trafficking, 
extortion and murder, authorities said.

Pomona Mayor Norma J. Torres said she viewed the sweep as a step in 
combating the city's gang violence.

"It's refreshing that there's been a focus on our town because we 
were neglected for a long time," Torres said. "It's sad that it took 
the life of a CHP officer, but now we are finally saying enough is enough."
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