Plainclothes Police Round Up Gang Suspects in 3-City Sweep

A 14-year-old Santa Ana boy suspected of belonging to a gang broke into tears Friday night as police told him he would be spending the weekend in Juvenile Hall.

The youth, apprehended as he was walking along La Bonita Street with a group of gang members--a violation of his probation--was one of the first to be arrested in a gang sweep conducted by authorities in Huntington Beach, Garden Grove and Westminster.

“This kid is a perfect example of what we’re trying to accomplish here,” said Colleene E. Hodges, supervising probation officer from the county gang violence suppression unit and the lead officer in Friday night’s sweep. “He could easily become a victim of violence. He was out with six or eight of his homeboys. They have no business being out.”

As the sweep began shortly after 8 p.m., 45 plainclothes police officers in 16 unmarked cars spread out from the command post in Westminster to scout out known gang areas and determine where members might be found. In addition to gang members, organizers of the sweep said they were looking for young people who might be in danger because they associate with gangs.

Hodges said groups of youngsters who appeared to be loitering after 10 p.m., a violation of local curfew laws, would be questioned. Young people suspected of belonging to gangs or associating with them were to be brought to local police stations and their parents called.