OAKLAND, Calif. – Oakland police weighed in Thursday on raids targeting Sureño street gangs, a day after federal officials announced an indictment targeting nine members.
Several other gang members are facing state charges of attempted murder and conspiracy, said Oakland Assistant Police Chief James Beere.
“We do believe that the arrests that were made yesterday are people that are significantly involved and are driving the majority of the violence,” Beere said, adding those in custody were responsible for a variety of crimes including “serious felony assaults.. beatings with baseball bats, stabbings, pistol-whippings.”
Gang tied to two dozen homicides in Oakland
By the numbers:
He said those crimes are on top of 31 Bay Area homicides tied to the gang, two dozen of which happened in Oakland, as well as shootings.
“The shootings were brazen, sometimes during broad daylight, at crowded parties at night, in parks, on streets, in homes,” Beere said. “We’ve even had violence associated with these groups within churches.”
Nine alleged gang members have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that range from guns and drugs to the killings of two perceived rivals back in 2019.
One victim, Ramiro Bautista Perez, was shot dead at Union Point Park along Oakland’s Embarcadero.
Two weeks later, Sleyter Ramirez Jimenez was shot and killed on 22nd Avenue.
“You do have cases where they clash, or you know one goes after the other,” said Oakland City Councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents the district where both 2019 homicides occurred.
“We do need more FBI presence, and that’s happened in the past, where we have a lot of gang activity and they were pretty involved in being able to control the activity,” Gallo said.
Defense attorney urges caution
The other side:
But veteran Oakland criminal defense attorney Ernie Castillo sounded a warning about how the federal case should be handled.
“The biggest problem and the trickiest thing on a case like this is that they’re lumping everyone together,” Castillo said. “So the danger there is that there will be this stigma that comes with homicide cases that would carry over into the non-violent offenses, and it will really jeopardize the fairness of any legal proceeding.”
Even so, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and police said the message is clear.
“It demonstrates our commitment to pursue justice relentlessly and work with every resource and partner necessary to hold those responsible to account,” Lee said in a statement.
Beere agreed, saying, “We’re likely going to track you down and arrest you. We’ve not finished. This case is not done. There will be more arrests.”
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: KTVU reporting, Oakland police, U.S. Attorney’s office