18 Arrested in Gang Crackdown

Authorities arrested at least 18 suspected gang members during stepped-up patrols in the wake of increased gang violence, an Orange County sheriff’s spokesman said Saturday.

Four of the arrests were for felony offenses, including one unidentified suspect accused of carrying a concealed weapon. Other arrests were for parole violations and misdemeanors, said Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Davis, San Clemente’s chief of police services.

Davis said the gang crackdown, which he described as “aggressive patrolling,” involved 16 deputies from the Sheriff’s Gang Enforcement Team deployed Friday and Saturday nights at trouble spots in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

During the sweep, deputies broke up small groups of teen-agers standing at street corners and interviewed suspected gang members.

The team was called in after two gang-related shootings occurred in one week. On Halloween night, a 16-year-old was shot in the kneecap. Late Thursday, a 17-year-old suspected gang member was shot in the chest during a drive-by attack. Both attacks were in San Clemente and are believed to have been committed by a rival San Juan Capistrano gang, deputies said.