TEAMWORK PAYING OFF AS ARRESTS CLIMB LAPD, U.S. NAB 'WORST OF WORST'.Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer Arrests by a specialized fugitive warrant team have skyrocketed this year as part of a push by Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Police Chief William Bratton to nab the city's most dangerous criminals. The 28 detectives and officers on the team from the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . , backed by members of the U.S. Marshals Service The U.S. Marshals Service, a division of the Justice Department, is the oldest federal law enforcement agency, having served as a link between the executive and judicial branches of the government since 1789. The president appoints U.S. marshals for terms of four years. fugitive task force, captured 719 felony suspects in the first half of this year, compared with 494 in the same period of 2003, a 31 percent jump. The team made 1,115 arrests in 2003, compared with 465 arrests in 2002, and hopes to capture 1,500 felony suspects by the end of 2004. ``These people are serial offenders. They do a lot of things,'' said Assistant Chief George Gascon Gascon inhabitant of Gascony, France; people noted for their bragging. [Fr. Hist.: NCE, 1049] See : Boastfulness , responsible for the day-to-day operation of the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. . ``They're definitely the worst of the worst. These folks disproportionately account for a large number of crimes in the city.'' Among the most high-profile arrests were those of Timothy McGhee, 29, of Atwater Village, whom authorities call a brutal gang leader suspected in as many as a dozen killings, and Trevor Woods, suspected in as many as 100 armed robberies. Police say these suspects - both named on the U.S. Marshals Service's list of the 15 most-wanted fugitives - probably would still be on the streets without the help of the LAPD team. ``Without the tenacity and hard work of this team, many of these violent predators would remain free, as many have been on the lam for quite a while,'' said Lt. David Lindsay David Lindsay may refer to:
Among those on the lam was McGhee, a fugitive for three years before an informant's tip led to his arrest by the team in Bullhead bullhead, common name for several species of fish. See catfish; sculpin. bullhead Any of several species of North American freshwater catfish in the genus Ictalurus, valued as food and sport fishes. Bullheads are related to the channel catfish (I. City, Ariz. He was returned to Los Angeles and is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Tuesday on multiple counts of murder. He is suspected of killing 16-year-old Ryan Gonzalez because the victim used the same nickname, ``Eskimo,'' as McGhee; a 17-year-old artist who was sketching a picture at the Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. , near the stronghold of the gang in which police say McGhee is a leader; and a young mother of two because he didn't like the car she drove. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty if McGhee is convicted. Woods, 37, is charged in a series of violent street robberies in West Los Angeles
Detectives worked more than a year trying to find their suspect, without success. ``People said he was here. People said he was there. He was all over the place,'' said Detective Scott Masterson, a member of the LAPD Fugitive Warrant Section. ``It was almost like chasing a ghost. We never saw him.'' Then in April, LAPD officers flew to Cincinnati, Ohio “Cincinnati” redirects here. For other uses, see Cincinnati (disambiguation). Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. , to investigate information that Woods had been seen driving a rental car there. While the officers were in Cincinnati, Woods was arrested there on bank robbery charges after a high-speed pursuit and a shoot-out with police. He is awaiting trial on the robbery charges in Cincinnati and will face additional charges in Los Angeles once his Ohio case is resolved. The LAPD fugitive warrant team - charged with tracking more than 2,300 fugitive felons, including 660 wanted in San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. cases - was beefed up as part of Bratton's effort to reduce crime by 20 percent. Six officers have been reassigned from administrative roles to the fugitive warrant team in the last year, but police credit much of the team's success to stronger working relationships between local and federal agents, from the top on down, and determination to hit the streets and arrest those likely to be repeat offenders. Among likely repeat offenders, police say, is Marlon Maniago, 39, who was wanted for a strong-arm residential robbery. He was also wanted by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. and U.S. Customs Service on illegal weapons charges and on suspicion of narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. possession, assault with a deadly weapon Assault with a Deadly Weapon is the term used to describe the act of threatening to harm one or more people by using a weapon (usually a firearm). Here, assault must be differentiated from battery as they are often confused. Assault is threatening to use force. and other robberies. The team tracked the suspect to a residence in Diamond Bar, where he barricaded himself in an attic. He surrendered after police threw in tear gas tear gas, gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. , and he is now awaiting trial in Ventura County. Miguel Orea, 40, was wanted on 12 counts of forcible rape of a minor and three counts of continuous sexual abuse. Through interviews, the team tracked Orea to a check-cashing business in South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. , where he was arrested after 25 days on the run. He is being held in lieu of $1.5 million bail at the Los Angeles County Jail pending an Aug. 18 court hearing. Dean Cairo Rodriguez, 30, had been wanted by the LAPD Devonshire Division on suspicion of murder in the Dec. 13 killing of Sergio Ernesto Reyes, 31, gunned down at a McDonald's drive-through in North Hills. Police said Rodriguez is a member of the notorious Mexican Mafia, known as Eme, who walked up to Reyes' vehicle and fired multiple shots at the victim. Rodriguez was captured April 1 after a surveillance at a local mall. He sits in the Men's Central Jail awaiting a court hearing scheduled for Friday. Jeffrey Lawrence Weaver, 34, was wanted by the LAPD's West Valley Division in connection with the torture and murder of Christopher Walsh, whose decomposing body was discovered in a Van Nuys public storage shed. Police quickly identified Weaver as a primary suspect, and the fugitive team members worked to find him. They got word that he was at the Saharan Hotel in Hollywood and moved in on him. Police said he ran down Sunset Boulevard and climbed onto a balcony of a brave person who who was armed and held Weaver at gunpoint until police arrived. Weaver was being held without bail at the Los Angeles County Jail awaiting an Aug. 27 court hearing on first-degree murder charges. ``I'm very pleased,'' Gascon said about results from the team members. ``They're working very hard. They're doing excellent work. With our federal partners, the long arm of the law has gotten very long.'' Jason Kandel, (818) 713-3664 jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 6 photos, box Photo: (1) Marlon Maniago (2) Miguel Orea (3) Timothy McGhee (4) Dean Cairo (5) Jeffrey Lawrence (6) Trevor Woods Box: FUGITIVE JUSTICE SOURCE: U.S. Marshals Service Daily News |
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