LOCAL : Two ‘Hard-Core Career’ L.A. Gang Members Escape From Police Jail
Two suspected gang members described today by Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates as “hard-core career” criminals have escaped from the 77th Street police station. The fugitives were among 31 suspected gang members who were arrested last week in two raids that the police and the FBI carried out in South-Central Los Angeles.
The men who disappeared were identified as Eric Wright, 18, and Buford Bates, 24. A police spokesman said the two, who were booked Friday on suspicion of kidnaping and robbery, “turned up missing” early Monday. Gates blamed overcrowding at the jail and said the escape was being investigated.
The arrests, made last week, represented the first product of a decision by the FBI six months ago to join with local police in a crackdown on gang violence, authorities said. Nine of the suspects are being held in a federal jail on drug sales charges.
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