8 Arrested in Early-Morning Sweep

About 50 officers launched an early-morning raid Tuesday, arresting six suspected gang members in connection with a string of recent street robberies that have terrorized vendors and day laborers, police said.

“The victims were pushcart operators, produce operators and day laborers who live in the area,” said Lt. Dave Severson. “Most of them are undocumented--the kind of people who don’t normally report crime.”

Officers obtained search warrants for 10 residences in Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, but the morning sweep concentrated on an area near Haster Street and Katella Avenue in Anaheim, where a street gang has been preying on neighbors for four to six weeks, Severson said.

In some cases, suspects wielded knives or guns, but in many instances, the robberies were pulled off by threat alone, Severson said. The loss averaged about $100 per robbery, a day’s earnings for some vendors.

Officers convinced frightened victims to come forward and identify suspects in photo lineups. Severson said the investigation is ongoing.

“They really had to dig pretty deep to find the victims who would trust us enough to talk to us,” Severson said. “One victim would direct us to another. They would give us a nickname” of a gang member.

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Police identified 11 street robberies and nine suspects. Six of those suspects were arrested Tuesday morning; two are already in custody on other charges, and one remains at large, Severson said.

Two other men also were arrested Tuesday, one for possession of narcotics and another on an outstanding warrant, Severson said. The suspects range in age from 15 to 24, he said.

Police Tuesday also confiscated gang paraphernalia and three replica handguns--models of semiautomatic weapons that can be bought through the mail, Severson said.

Severson said police assume that far more robberies went unreported. Anyone who may have been victimized is encouraged to contact authorities, he said.

Severson said he hoped the morning raid would send a message to residents:

“Don’t let these gang members intimidate you and scare you away from reporting these crimes,” he said. “If anyone is a victim of a crime, we want to know about them.”