Deputies arrest 5 in gang sweep
Half of the people detained part of the Brown Familia, authorities report
Members of two Sheriff’s Station’s specialty teams carried out a sweep of suspected gang members, arresting five of at least 12 people detained this week.
The sweep was carried out Wednesday, when members of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff Station’s Special Assignment and Crime Impact teams began “patrolling in SCV areas where possible gang activity was reported,” Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station told The Signal.
“On Thursday afternoon around 3:15, our deputies from the SAT and CIT teams were patrolling the area of 18500 of Soledad canyon road,” Sgt. Chris Craft who oversees the stations Zone 4 area in Saugus and who works on the Crime Prevention Unit, told The Signal Friday.
“They happened to come by a house and as they approached a place where there was known gang activity, two males were seen running from the location.
“Subsequently, there were 12 individuals detained at the location and five arrests were made.
“We detained 12 people - and
they were all associates or people who are associated with gangs that are from the SCV.”
Cracking down on gangs is one “proactive” operation undertaken by the sheriff’s station.
“We are extremely pro-active out here,” Craft said. “We are constantly conducting probation searches and other operations to try and lower crime and make residents feel safer.”
The gang sweep was carried out the day after The Signal published a lengthy review of the April 2017 shooting of alleged Brown Familia member Steven Ryan Valenzuela-Hughes.
“The teams, aided by J-Team deputies, went to a mobile home park located on the
18500 block of Soledad Canyon Road in Canyon Country and detained 12 individuals,” Miller said.
About half the people detained Wednesday were identified as also belonging to the Brown Familia gang, Miller said.
Deputies arrested, transported and booked five adults—two females and three males on multiple charges including narcotics, no-bail warrants and a $100,000 warrant for assault.
The joint-team of SAT and CIT members carried out a “due diligence” warrant for the arrest of a woman on suspicion of battery, Miller said.
Two of the five people arrested were found to have drugs in their possession and now face additional drug charges, she said.
Brown Familia has garnered closer scrutiny by anti-gang units of the SCV Sheriff’s Station these past couple of years as probes into two shooting deaths of gang members continue.