Anti-Gang Task Force Arrests Six in Ventura

Sending a message to gang members, a task force of 165 officers seeking evidence about a murder and two recent gang-related stabbings swept through Ventura early Friday, searching 20 dwellings and arresting six people on a variety of charges, authorities said.

Police confiscated two handguns and “gang-type paraphernalia” such as clothing, Ventura Police Lt. Don Arth said.

“This is the largest operation I’ve seen in 22 years as a police officer,” Arth said. “We want to send a message to gang members that we take this very, very seriously. The shooting and two stabbings are very unusual.”

Bonifaco Brachamontes, 19, and Richard Reyes, 18, of Ventura were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Arth said. The men, who police say are gang members, were arrested in a Jan. 29 stabbing in which the victim survived.

The raids--conducted by officers from Ventura, Oxnard, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office--were launched in response to an unusual spate of violence in Ventura over the last week, Arth said.

In recent attacks, 24-year-old Alfonso Sanchez of Ventura was killed and two other men were stabbed. The sweep was not related to a Feb. 5 attack that left 17-year-old Ventura High School football player John Strobel dead, Arth said.