LAPD Nails 352 in Operation Hammer

A Los Angeles Police task force called Operation Hammer arrested 352 people in South Los Angeles over the weekend.

It was the 10th in a series of sweeps this year aimed at reducing gang-related street violence.

Special squads, totaling 167 officers working Saturday night and early Sunday, arrested 138 people, including 61 gang members. They seized 32 ounces of cocaine, 6 1/2 ounces of marijuana and a little more than 8 ounces of other narcotics.

Charges included 13 narcotics and 11 other felony violations, as well as 129 traffic citations.

On Friday night and early Saturday, the task force arrested 133 suspected gang members and 81 others not believed to be members.

The area of the sweep was bounded roughly by the Santa Monica Freeway on the north, Imperial Highway on the south, the Inglewood city limit on the west and Alameda Street on the east.

The weekend sweeps began in early 1988 and were dubbed “The Hammer” by Police Chief Daryl Gates, who said the operation was designed to “make life miserable for gang members” by arresting them and their associates for both major and minor offenses.

Violence continued in the Southland. A 19-year-old man was killed in Southwest Los Angeles Saturday, four people were wounded in a drive-by shooting at Averill Park in San Pedro Saturday and another 19-year-old man was shot in the leg in a drive-by shooting in Venice early Sunday.

In Southwest Los Angeles, the shooting victim was wounded about 8:40 p.m. Saturday in the 4000 block of Leimert Boulevard and died at Brotman Medical Center, according to Los Angeles Police Sgt. Mike D’Amato. The victim’s name was withheld pending notification of relatives.

In the San Pedro attack, two men, a teen-age boy and a woman who were on the south side of Averill Park were hit by shotgun pellets fired from a small car about 10:45 p.m. Saturday, police said.

Patricia Ortega, 18, was reported in serious but stable condition at Torrance Memorial Hospital Medical Center with multiple facial wounds. The other victims, Juan Gabion, 18; Ernest Gabion, 21, and Adrian Hernandez, 17, were reported in stable condition.

Officers said the victims were not gang members, and police have not determined whether the attack is gang-related. No arrests have been made.

In Venice, Michael Ridley, 19, was at a party when a car drove past, a gang slogan was shouted and five shots were fired about 1:45 a.m., police said. Ridley, hit in the leg, was reported in stable condition at UCLA Medical Center. No arrests have been made.