Police Patrols Heightened After Weekend Shootings

The Pasadena Police Department has assigned a dozen extra officers to crack down on gang violence in north Pasadena, where weekend shootings left one person dead, several others wounded and a community in fear.

In addition to the patrol officers, traffic officers have been diverted from their usual duties to the streets of northwest and north-central Pasadena to assist, Police Chief Barney Melekian told the Pasadena City Council Monday night.

Melekian said the department’s Special Investigation Division, which usually targets large-scale drug dealers, would “identify violent offenders currently on probation or parole” to ensure that they are complying with conditions of probation or parole.

He said police are investigating gang members who are suspected of trying to hire someone to kill a patrol officer whose investigations helped return a number of violent parole violators to prison.

The department will stay in close contact with neighborhood leaders to avoid retaliation, he said.

On Friday, Damion Thomas, 25, was shot to death. Police believe that Thomas’ associates in a local gang were responsible for a drive-by shooting Sunday in which five men were wounded.

In what police believe was an unrelated incident, another man was shot in the stomach early Sunday. Jose Becerra, 23, and Salvador Vasquez, 23, both of Altadena, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Residents with information about gang activity can anonymously call police at (626) 744-7007.