Police Arrest Dozens in Undercover Gang Sweep

Gilroy Police arrested more than 25 people Thursday morning in the second gang sweep in two months. This followed a seven-month-long investigation.

Raids of the suspected criminals' homes took place early Thursday morning, and should wrap-up by 10 a.m., said Sgt. Chad Gallacinao of the Gilroy Police Department.

Campbell Police Department lent its support in the raids with 14 police officers serving both arrest and search warrants at target residences.

"Criminals don't respect jurisdictional boundaries," said Campbell Police Capt. Dave Carmichael. "These types of crimes aren't isolated within one city and we are fortunate in Santa Clara County to have an outstanding working relationships between law enforcement agencies."

According to the police, the arrested suspects violated the state’s Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (STEP Act). “These criminal street gang members and their gang associates organized violent and reckless criminal activity, which caused undue harm upon victims and compromised the safety of our community members,” the press release reads. 

The worked with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration and the California Department of Justice to investigate and detain the suspects.

The Santa Clara County Superior Court issued the arrest warrants as the result of an investigation that took place in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Hollister and San Jose. But all suspects either live in Gilroy, or are active participants of a Gilroy-based criminal street gang, Gallacinao said in the release.

The suspects will be prosecuted by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office for various criminal violations, including:

• Violations of the STEP Act

• Shooting into an inhabited dwelling

• Assault with a deadly weapon (firearm)

• Assault with a deadly weapon (vehicle)

• Robbery

• Criminal conspiracy

• Narcotic violations

• Witness intimidation

• The use of juvenile offenders to commit crimes to benefit a criminal street gang.

This is the second gang sweep to have occurred in recent months, following , where the GPD, District Attorney’s Office and multiple other local, county, state and federal agencies worked together.

More than 20 law enforcement agencies assisted the GPD in the investigation, including:

• the California Department of Justice,
• California Department of Justice Task Forces (Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team, Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team and Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Team),
• California Highway Patrol,
• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
• Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office,
• Santa Clara County Probation Department,
• Santa Clara County’s Regional Auto-Theft Task Force (RATTF),
• Morgan Hill Police Department,
• Mountain View Police Department,
• Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety,
• ,
• Milpitas Police Department,
• High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA),
• United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
• United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Patch will have updates to the story as and when more information is available.

Mayra Flores De Marcotte contributed to this article.