Published: March 31, 2009 07:40 pm
Rome News-Tribune (GA)
Five arrested in robbery of pizza deliverer charged with violating street gang act
Mark Millican
Four more people have been arrested in the March 26 armed robbery of a pizza delivery man at gunpoint near 306 N. Henderson St.
Dennis Shammad Love, 17, of 715 Trammel St., and three juveniles were arrested Tuesday by officers with the Dalton Police Department. Damarion Johnson, 17, was arrested on Friday. All are charged with armed robbery and violation of the Georgia Street Gang Act. Police spokesman Bruce Frazier said officers believe some of the youth are part of a gang but do not want to publicize a gang name over concerns that other gangs may commit crimes to gain publicity.
Investigating officers found a pellet gun in the area where the robbery occurred and believe it was used in the holdup, Frazier said.
Love and Johnson are students at Northwest Whitfield High School, according to a spokesman at the Whitfield County Jail. They remained in custody Tuesday afternoon. Frazier said the juveniles were taken to the Regional Youth Detention Center where a decision would be made about incarceration or releasing them to their parents.
Punishment by the school system could include suspension or expulsion under the school system’s code of conduct. Spokesman Eric Beavers said Northwest principal Carolyn Towns could take the students before a discipline tribunal hearing.
The delivery driver was robbed in the area of apartments at 306 N. Henderson St. after someone called in an order for an address where the resident was not home, police said. As the driver was about to leave, he was approached by a group of young males who claimed to have made the order. He went to his truck to retrieve a change bag when one of the males pulled out a gun and demanded money.
The driver left after giving up $25 and the pizza.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Mississauga (Canada) homes raided in street gang bust
Mississauga.com
April 2, 2009 09:48 AM -
A series of pre-dawn raids yesterday, including two in Mississauga, have resulted in more than 100 people being arrested in what police described as the biggest street gang takedown in Ontario's history.
About 1,000 police officers executed more than 100 search warrants during a bust of "unprecedented scale," Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said this morning.
Police from across the province, including OPP officers, burst into apartment buildings and homes as early as 5 a.m. in an effort to dismantle both high and low-level operatives of various criminal organizations.
Two Mississauga homes were raided, with four people being arrested.
"We have achieved the purpose that we set out to do today," Blair said.
Police continued to make arrests and seize property throughout the day.
Project Fusion, as police are calling Wednesday's takedown, began last year and focused on crimes dating back to 2003, Chief Bill Blair told a news conference at police headquarters today.
The investigation focused on two street gangs: MNE (Markham Road/Eglinton Ave. E.) and the 400 Crew (400 McCowan Rd.) located in southeast Toronto, Blair said.
"But there is an overarching criminal enterprise that supplies weapons and drugs to the street gangs, " Blair said. They don't have a name but "they have been extremely well organized and sophisticated in their operation."
One hundred homes and 61 vehicles around the GTA were the targets of search warrants.
Police arrested 125 people. Some face weapons trafficking and criminal organization charges while some facing less serious offences already have been released from custody. Prosecutors will try to detain the accused who face the most serious charges. No names have been released.
"This is the culmination of a complex and obviously successful organized crime investigation," Blair said.
lrosella@mississauga.net
April 2, 2009 09:48 AM -
A series of pre-dawn raids yesterday, including two in Mississauga, have resulted in more than 100 people being arrested in what police described as the biggest street gang takedown in Ontario's history.
About 1,000 police officers executed more than 100 search warrants during a bust of "unprecedented scale," Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said this morning.
Police from across the province, including OPP officers, burst into apartment buildings and homes as early as 5 a.m. in an effort to dismantle both high and low-level operatives of various criminal organizations.
Two Mississauga homes were raided, with four people being arrested.
"We have achieved the purpose that we set out to do today," Blair said.
Police continued to make arrests and seize property throughout the day.
Project Fusion, as police are calling Wednesday's takedown, began last year and focused on crimes dating back to 2003, Chief Bill Blair told a news conference at police headquarters today.
The investigation focused on two street gangs: MNE (Markham Road/Eglinton Ave. E.) and the 400 Crew (400 McCowan Rd.) located in southeast Toronto, Blair said.
"But there is an overarching criminal enterprise that supplies weapons and drugs to the street gangs, " Blair said. They don't have a name but "they have been extremely well organized and sophisticated in their operation."
One hundred homes and 61 vehicles around the GTA were the targets of search warrants.
Police arrested 125 people. Some face weapons trafficking and criminal organization charges while some facing less serious offences already have been released from custody. Prosecutors will try to detain the accused who face the most serious charges. No names have been released.
"This is the culmination of a complex and obviously successful organized crime investigation," Blair said.
lrosella@mississauga.net
Injunction targets O.C. (CA) street gang
Lps Angeles times
6:19 PM | March 27, 2009
An Orange County judge issued a court order today that bars dozens of alleged members of a street gang from assembling with each other, authorities said.
Superior Court Judge Kazharu Makino signed the preliminary injunction against the Orange Varrio Cypress gang, which claims territory in the city of Orange, according to the district attorney’s office. The court order is the sixth signed in Orange County in the last 2½ years. The last injunction was issued against a rival gang, also in Orange, in July.
Law enforcement authorities served 108 alleged gang members with injunction notices starting last month, and 55 of them were named in Friday’s injunction.
The judge’s order demarcates a 3.8-square-mile area, mostly in downtown Orange west of the 55 Freeway, in which alleged gang members are not allowed to congregate together, drink or use drugs in public, or wear gang attire. They must also obey a curfew and other laws or face increased penalties.
“They’ve been committing violent crime and really been a nuisance to the community,” said Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams, who added that the gang dates back to at least the 1970s.
More recently, police said, the gang's members have been involved in dozens of attempted homicides, weapons violations, assaults and drug crimes from 2005 to 2008.
As in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, gang injunctions have become more common in Orange County as a way to step up the fight against gangs in Anaheim, Orange, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and Santa Ana.
Gang injunctions are somewhat controversial, with civil libertarians saying they cast too wide a net and can amount to racial profiling.
But law enforcement officials say that they pursue court orders in response to fears and concerns by law-abiding residents, and that they include only the most active and well-documented gang members, such as those who have admitted to gang membership, dress in gang colors, bear gang tattoos or have committed crimes on behalf of the gang.
--Tony Barboza
6:19 PM | March 27, 2009
An Orange County judge issued a court order today that bars dozens of alleged members of a street gang from assembling with each other, authorities said.
Superior Court Judge Kazharu Makino signed the preliminary injunction against the Orange Varrio Cypress gang, which claims territory in the city of Orange, according to the district attorney’s office. The court order is the sixth signed in Orange County in the last 2½ years. The last injunction was issued against a rival gang, also in Orange, in July.
Law enforcement authorities served 108 alleged gang members with injunction notices starting last month, and 55 of them were named in Friday’s injunction.
The judge’s order demarcates a 3.8-square-mile area, mostly in downtown Orange west of the 55 Freeway, in which alleged gang members are not allowed to congregate together, drink or use drugs in public, or wear gang attire. They must also obey a curfew and other laws or face increased penalties.
“They’ve been committing violent crime and really been a nuisance to the community,” said Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams, who added that the gang dates back to at least the 1970s.
More recently, police said, the gang's members have been involved in dozens of attempted homicides, weapons violations, assaults and drug crimes from 2005 to 2008.
As in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, gang injunctions have become more common in Orange County as a way to step up the fight against gangs in Anaheim, Orange, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and Santa Ana.
Gang injunctions are somewhat controversial, with civil libertarians saying they cast too wide a net and can amount to racial profiling.
But law enforcement officials say that they pursue court orders in response to fears and concerns by law-abiding residents, and that they include only the most active and well-documented gang members, such as those who have admitted to gang membership, dress in gang colors, bear gang tattoos or have committed crimes on behalf of the gang.
--Tony Barboza
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