Police Put Brakes on Cruising : Safety: About 100 officers from 13 agencies descend on southwest Santa Ana to curb Sunday night tradition.

About 100 officers from 13 Orange County police agencies fanned out in the city’s southwestern corner Sunday night, trying to curb a Sunday night cruising tradition that officials say has clogged streets and parking lots and recently sparked violence.

At nearly every intersection and parking lot in the six-block stretch of Bristol Street that police targeted, blue and red lights were whirling as officers stopped and searched cars and interviewed their occupants.

In the parking lot of the Green Thumb Nursery, officers set up a makeshift booking center to arrest the stream of people--many of them juveniles--brought in from the street.

By 10 p.m. police had made six arrests and authorities said more were expected.

Santa Ana Police Lt. Michael Foote, who coordinated the multi-agency operation, said earlier that officers expected to arrest cruisers on charges ranging from vehicle code infractions and probation violation to illegal possession of alcohol, drugs and weapons, but that the goal was to stop cruisers from gathering in Santa Ana on Sunday nights.

“If we can own the parking lots, we can own the street--right now, we own neither,” Foote told the officers as they huddled in the Green Thumb parking lot for a briefing at about 8 p.m. “That’s why we’re here, to take back the parking lots, to take back the streets.”

For the past two and a half years, Sunday nights have routinely brought 1,000 to 3,000 cars to Bristol Street, creating gridlock and turning shopping center parking lots into “one big party,” Foote said. Violence has often erupted and traffic has been snarled because of these rendezvous, Foote said.

On Sunday nights, between March 15 and Sept. 15 this year, there were four homicides and 64 assaults with deadly weapons in the six-block area favored by cruisers, Foote said.

“If we were talking about strictly street cruising activity where we had a large number of people getting together in one place to stand around and talk, that would not be so much concern,” Foote said. “The key issue we’re dealing with here is that we have seen a rising sense of violence--gangs come and join in.”

According to the city’s municipal code, “cruising”--driving past the same point in the same direction three or more times in four hours--is illegal when traffic is congested. Violations are punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

On Bristol Street, some cruise in souped-up classic cars and trucks, while others drive family four-door sedans. People come from as far away as San Diego, Carlsbad, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Moreno Valley, Foote said.

Santa Ana police, who decorated their squad cars with orange and black Halloween balloons Sunday night, have tried unsuccessfully to curtail cruising by chaining off parking lots or blocking streets on Sunday nights. Foote said the massive, multi-agency effort would be repeated next Sunday night and that by Nov. 14 police hoped to have the cruising problem under control.

Although there were arrests, some interactions were less serious.

“How are you guys doing? I want to talk to you,” said a motorcycle officer as she approached a group of eight young men in the supermarket parking lot at Bristol and Edinger.

Lining them up against the bumper of their 1951 Mercury, the officer asked for identification, warned them about their missing front license plate, and told them to head home to Tustin--reminding them to “buckle up.”

“I just think it’s kind of dumb,” Andy Chiusolo, 19, the driver, said as he left for home. “If you have a gun in your car, fine. But if you’re just looking for girls, (cruising) is not a problem.”

Local merchants have promised to place barriers in front of their parking lots by Nov. 14 to help the law enforcement effort, Foote said.

“In the past we were extremely hampered because of the size of the problem and the amount of resources we have to deal with it,” Foote said.

Benjamin Kim, owner of South Coast Liquor, who brought soda and ice to the police late Sunday, hopes that increased patrols might keep Bristol Street open without worrying about cruising.

“I want (police) to find a better way to eliminate cruising without blocking Bristol,” Kim said. “As long as they don’t block Bristol, they are not hurting my business. So I want to help them.”