Four arrested in gang raid on Westside

Deepa Bharath

A multi-agency gang task force combed the city’s Westside early

Wednesday morning in a search for gang members allegedly involved in

two shootings and a stabbing, police officials said.

Officers did not find the people they were looking for, but

arrested four others on different charges while also finding three

handguns in two homes, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney said.

One boy was arrested on suspicion of violating probation, and

another was arrested for allegedly interfering with the officers’

ability to perform their duty, Birney said. David Antonio Mendez, 18,

and a girl were arrested on suspicion of interfering. The girl also

had an outstanding warrant, Birney said.

About 90 officers from 10 agencies launched a massive sweep as

they searched three homes in the 300 block of Avocado Avenue, two

locations in the 800 block of Center Street, and homes in the 1900

block of Maple Street, 1000 block of El Camino Drive, 700 block of

Shalimar Drive, 600 block of Mission Street and the 700 block of

Wilson Street, Birney said.

He said the action was in direct response to three incidents in

the city’s Westside. The first occurred April 15 when a 15-year-old

boy was reportedly stabbed by two men while walking in the 1900 block

of Wallace Avenue. The teenager’s injuries were not life threatening.

The second came less than a month later, on May 9, when men

wielding guns attacked two men standing in a parking lot of an

apartment complex in the 1900 block of Maple Street. Both victims

suffered gunshot wounds, but survived.

The most recent incident left a 20-year-old with a bullet in his

back. A man reportedly shot the victim when he was waiting with a

friend in an alley behind the 800 block of Center Street. Birney said

in addition to these, police are also looking for gang members in

connection with three separate graffiti incidents since May 15.

The locations the officers searched on Wednesday were based on

“follow-up investigation,” he said.

Birney said it is not clear why there has been a sudden surge in

gang violence.

“It’s hard to tell what sets it off,” he said. “It starts off with

some graffiti, which then leads to problems between rival gangs.

Usually, one thing leads to another, and it becomes a vicious cycle.”

Birney said the city has a gang unit that patrols the city seven

days a week, as well as school resource officers who tackle the

problem in the city’s schools.

“It’s an ongoing and never-ending process,” he said.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.