5 Santa Ana Bars Closed in Police Raid : Officers Allege That Establishments Are Centers of Violent Crime

Santa Ana police Thursday night raided and closed five bars, alleged to be centers of prostitution, drug sales and violent crime. Police also arrested three people and found violations such as insect-polluted whiskey bottles.

The raids, accompanied by a flotilla of media so large that officers had to direct traffic to the bars, turned up a small amount of marijuana. One weapon was confiscated, a .38-caliber automatic found at La Oficina Bar at 3610 W. 1st St. and one man was arrested on a gambling charge.

Arrested on suspicion of possessing a stolen pistol were the two owners of La Oficina, Jorge Olivares, 58, and Jose Olivares, 24, both of Santa Ana, and the bartender, Navor Mendez, 36, according to Sgt. Felix Osuna. Jose Olivares was later released.

The bar raids marked the beginning of the second phase of the city’s “Swat HYPES” (High Yield Police Enforcement Services) program begun on Oct. 2. In the first phase, police have served search warrants at 37 houses and one warehouse and have arrested more than 100 suspected drug dealers, Lt. David Salazar said.

Overall, the Swat HYPES program, which includes stepped-up patrols of high-crime areas, has accounted for 507 arrests for suspected crimes ranging from misdemeanors to attempted murder, Salazar said.

All five bars were closed for a variety of alleged building-code violations, including exposed electrical wiring and unsanitary plumbing, and for liquor law infractions. At the Nochistlence, 3601 W. 1st St., a spokesman for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Department, Edward Mimiaga, held up several “contaminated” bottles, including a fifth of Jim Beam containing a couple of fruit flies. “This is what they’re using for their well drinks,” he said.

One foul-up occurred when officers subdued a man as television cameras rolled. Later, it was quietly revealed that the man was an undercover police officer.

The other three bars raided were Mazatlan, 3417 W. 5th St.; the Red Baron, 1815 S. Main St., and El Garibaldy’s, 216 E. Warner Ave. Salazar said the owners had been served notice to clean up recurrent problems at their bars that include homicides, assaults and weapons violations. Last Friday, a man was shot and seriously wounded at Mazatlan, officers said.

Police were accompanied by the city’s Community Preservation officers, who enforce city codes.

Unlike recent police raids of local residences to stem narcotics sales, officers were not accompanied by immigration officials on Thursday night’s raids.

About 15 illegal aliens not arrested but present at houses raided by police since Oct. 2 have been turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for deportation since the joint police-immigration enforcement program began, a police spokeswoman said. In addition, immigration officials have placed holds on illegal aliens who were arrested.

Police Deputy Chief Gene Hansen said many of the customers of the bars raided Thursday are known to be illegal aliens, but that “during the initial phase of our bar enforcement we are prepared to handle the situation without (INS) assistance.” Salazar said about a dozen bars have been marked as “problem” locations.

Hansen said the Police Department is trying to warn illegal immigrants through the Spanish-language press not to frequent high-crime bars “to give those undocumented (residents) . . . an opportunity to avoid those locations where they might get swept up” during police raids.

“We’re going after the location principally,” Hansen said. “In a couple of weeks, if we’re unable to communicate this adequately, it may be necessary to use INS.”

Hansen said the bar owners also had been warned that “we view their place as a place of problems, and if they don’t take care of it, we will.