The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced that 24 “Mob Piru” gang members were arrested Tuesday morning, July 8, in the City of Compton as part of a major multi-agency investigation.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced that 24 “Mob Piru” gang members were arrested Tuesday morning, July 8, in the City of Compton as part of a major multi-agency investigation.
The six-month investigation, Operation Killen Court, was launched by numerous state and local agencies after an innocent bystander, Kyutza Herrera, was killed during a drive-by shooting involving rival gang members in August 2007. The four suspects were arrested during the course of the investigation.
At approximately 6 a.m. Tuesday, nearly 450 law enforcement personnel served 58 arrest warrants throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties for offenses including murder, conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, marijuana trafficking, parole violations and weapons violations.
Brown said the investigation will send a message to gangs, which he called “urban terrorists.”
“Despite the best of efforts, gangs are very entrenched and very committed,” he said. “If you’re a gang member committing crimes, we’re going to be relentless bringing you to justice.”
During the course of the investigation, agents derailed a plan to rob a South
Los Angeles post office. The suspect, 28-year-old Warren Phillipus, was a U.S. Post Office mail carrier. This indicates, Brown said, that a well-paying job will not always stop a person from being affiliated with a gang.
The “Mob Piru” gang has “plagued the community for several generations,” said Chief Cecil Rhambo, Field Operations Region II. “Today, this community is safer because of the collaboration between local and state law enforcement agencies.”
The operation was conducted with the help of the California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, along with the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (LA IMPACT). The mission of this task force is to obliterate the most violent gangs in Los Angeles County. LA IMPACT includes:
Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Los Angeles County Probation, California Highway Patrol, Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Customs, Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and police departments from Alhambra, Baldwin Park, Culver City, Downey, El Segundo, Gardena, Glendora, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, La Verne, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Pomona, Redondo Beach, San Gabriel, Santa Monica, Torrance, Vernon, West Covina and Whittier.
SHB-88A-08 X X X July 8, 2008
For additional coverage of this multi-agency investigation, please see L.A. Times article and photos at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-compton9-2008jul09,0,2865439.story
and photo gallery at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-compton9-f,0,1928551.flash
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