Residents of Gang’s Turf Hope for More Peaceful Days : Neighborhood: They describe fears that kept them inside their homes and say strong action was needed. But some accuse police of harassment, sneer at governor.

As residents of West 3rd Street murmured about Wednesday’s police sweep, some spoke of the morning gunshots common in the neighborhood just months ago and the incessant drug dealing that took place under tall trees that the city has since chopped down.

The hardest members of the 6th Street gang targeted by “Operation Roundup” have been locked up for some months now, they offered in fearful whispers, but the neighborhood needed a strong show of force to send a clear message to troublemakers.

“There is a fear, a terrible fear,” said a 70-year-old woman who has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years. “We’re always afraid at night. But before, we couldn’t leave even in the day because the street was full of cholos , with gunfire in the day and night.

“I hope that the street becomes completely peaceful. I’d like to live in peace,” said the woman. She noted that the past two months have been remarkably calm, but still refused to give her name out of fear.

“Here there are many enemies. One has to be careful,” she said. “People wait for you and you don’t know when they will get you.”

In their dawn sweep of the two-block neighborhood, police officers and FBI agents cordoned off streets and brought dogs and video cameras into houses for an early-morning awakening that some described as harassment.

“They made my mom cry and they just destroyed the house,” said Ana Ruiz, 19. At her house, police arrested a younger sister and brother on suspicion of drug dealing.

“They didn’t have to throw all my dad’s colognes off the dresser and take pictures of his food stamps. That’s my dad’s personal business. They treated him like he’s some kind of big drug dealer,” Ruiz said. “I’m not saying they don’t have a right, but they should do it in a more kindly manner.”

Her brother was supposed to start junior high school school today, she added. Instead, he became the youngest suspect netted in Wednesday’s raid, police said.

The five-month undercover operation and Wednesday morning’s arrests were announced at a press conference by Gov. Pete Wilson, Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters, FBI Special Agent in Charge Charlie Parsons and Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi.

Santa Ana police Lt. Robert Helton said prosecutors will ask judges handling the cases not to release any of the suspects on bail unless they can prove that the bail money was not derived from drug sales.

Officials said that remaining phases of Operation Roundup are aimed at rebuilding the neighborhood, educating residents, providing youths alternatives to gang activity and stimulating business. But they did not offer specifics.

A group that gathered around Ruiz’s house Wednesday to talk about the raid sneered at Wilson’s presence in Santa Ana and questioned officials’ concern for the neighborhood.

“They’ll arrest people and harass people, but once it’s all over they won’t be helping people here,” said a 23-year-old man who identified himself only as Jose. “I know the way Pete Wilson is. He’s all, ‘We don’t want Mexicans around. Let’s get them out of the state.’ ”

Most neighbors said the strip of West 3rd Street--a patchwork of graffiti-marred homes and well-manicured lawns blooming with roses--was until recently a very violent place.

But they said that was before arrests landed some hard-core members of the 6th Street gang in jail.

“It used to be bad a year ago, but it’s not like that any more. Now there are kids playing in the street. Nobody’s left from 6th Street,” said one 22-year-old man who gave his name only as Frank.

A 17-year-old who asked that his name not be used said that a year ago he and his sister were sometimes afraid to pull into their driveway because of the drug-dealing gang members who congregated outside their home.

And one night he was awakened to see two men shooting at each other right in front of his house.

“It was terrible,” he said, adding that he still would not consider walking around the neighborhood at night.

At a cluster of homes on 3rd and Shelton streets, where a group of families have lived for years, Matt Autele, 22, took a measured approach to the sweep.

A show of force complete with federal agents gets a strong point across, Autele said, but law enforcement officials should concentrate on keeping drug dealers and gang members in jail once they are arrested.

“If they’re going to take them in, take them in for something that they’re going to make stick,” he said, taking a break from working on his customized truck.

“Consistency is the key. If they’re going to come through every week or two weeks, then fine. But if they just made a show of it today, then that’s a big waste. . . . If they’re not going to continue on with it, it’s no help.”

Arturo Montez, state director of urban affairs for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said his organization supports police crackdowns to make streets safer.

But he and others said they would also like to see more community policing in the predominantly Latino communities of Santa Ana.

“It’s OK to cut out the cancer, but we also need preventive medicine,” he said.

John Palacio, executive director of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund in Orange County, agreed. He said he wants Gov. Wilson to make an appearance in Santa Ana to announce ways to prevent drug dealing and gangbanging from taking place at all.

“We’ve very supportive of any attempt by law enforcement to remove any criminal element on our streets,” Palacio said. “But we also believe the governor should spend more funds on preventive measures. We want a balanced approach. We want more weeding, but we also want more seeding.”

Times staff writer Rene Lynch contributed to this report.