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9 Arrested in Raid for Gang Members
Rialto SWAT, Police Operations Yields suspected Murder Accomplice
By Roger Rogers, Staff Writer Daily Bulletin
RIALTO -- Rialto police and SWAT officers arrested nine people Thursday in multi-agency, multi-city daybreak raids, including a 16-year-old Rialto boy suspected of being an accomplice in a May 1 homicide.
The 6:15 a.m. raids on suspected gang lairs in eight separate locations in Rialto and Fontana were in response to a spate of homicides and armed robberies traced to Rialto's largest gang -- South Side Rialto.
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Rialto Gang Suspect Raid, 07/27Photo Gallery: Police raid gang suspects' homes
Police say a .38-caliber revolver found Thursday at a home in the 270 block of East Alru Street in Rialto where they found the 16-year-old boy is similar to one used in the killing of 20-year-old Joseph Aragon , who was shot after a verbal altercation in front of a liquor store on Riverside Avenue on May 1.
"At this point, it looks like we took big steps toward solving some very serious crimes today," Rialto Police Sgt. Andrew Karol said of Thursday's raids, during which authorities also gathered pictures, letters and gang paraphernalia.
Aragon was just one casualty in a string of crimes earlier this year that police believe all tie back to 20-year-old South Side Rialto gang member Manuel "Daffie" Espinoza, who was shot and killed by narcotics officers June 8. Police believe the 16-year-old and Espinoza may have been responsible for Aragon's death.
Police say Espinoza fired on Rialto police, who were chasing him, on June 8. Police returned fire, hitting Espinoza, who died later at the hospital. A .38-caliber revolver was recovered at the scene. Police say they will conduct ballistics tests at the county sheriff's crime lab on Espinoza's gun and the one found Thursday to determine whether either was the weapon used to kill Aragon.
The officer-involved shooting is still under investigation by the department and independent sheriff's investigators, which is normal protocol when police use deadly force, Karol said.
Police believe the crime spree quieted with Espinoza's death, but said countering the brazen violence with a broader gang crackdown is critical to keeping the peace.
"Today's operation had two main objectives," Karol said of the raids, which were spearheaded by the narcotics unit tracking South Side Rialto gang members. "One was to gather valuable intelligence and evidence in connection with local crimes, and the other was to send a message, to rattle the cages."
In the 600 block of South Olive Street, Rialto's SWAT van rolled in with 10 heavily-armed officers clasped to ridges and rails on the side of the vehicle.
Jumping off near an alley behind a two-unit condominium, officers gelled into a single-file line in a crouched run and snaked tightly around the structure before forking at the two front doors.
Behind the building, an officer let fly a concussion grenade, the deafening sound serving as the cue for SWAT members to use their battering ram to smash through the front doors.
The heavily armed strike force was assembled because two suspected South Side members reside there. But all police found initially were startled parents and children and pictures of Espinoza. Moments later, echoing pops were heard from another raid nearby.
Despite the anticlimactic entrance, police said the raid was a moderate success. The chances that young gang members will be a certain place at a certain time is a crapshoot, Karol said.
"With the information we're gathering here and at the other locations, there's no telling how many crimes we'll solve or how much more information we'll get that will help us against these gangs," Karol said.
After rifling through both units, police left with multiple cameras and a sophisticated surveillance unit, stacks of photographs and caches of written correspondence between people in the homes and California prisons.
A force of about 75 officers representing nine different area agencies served search warrants on eight separate residences in Rialto and Fontana, all of which were hit simultaneously just after 6 a.m. to ensure surprise.
Det. Johnny Partida said South Side Rialto is the city's largest gang, and like others in the region, has stretched its influence into nearby cities. Sgt. Paul Stella said the department has about 130 South Side members profiled in its database.
"The South Side has been around forever, but recently they went from being more of a nuisance to getting bigger, bolder and causing more problems," Stella said. "So we've assembled a broader force, hitting back in multiple locations, multiple cities."
Interim Police Chief Frank Scialdone looked on in street clothes during the early-morning raid on South Olive Street. After serving as the impetus behind the last major multi-unit raid on East Jackson Street in March, he this time left more of the work -- and the credit -- to the rank-and-file.
"This is good and smooth," Scialdone said outside while his SWAT officers searched the residences and conducted interviews. "This is a monthlong process to plan and coordinate for a few short hours, and I'm pleased with what I've seen."
After the initial round of morning search warrants, police met back at the briefing room where detectives sorted and processed evidence and interviewed people taken into custody. The second phase of the operation was a midmorning parole and probation sweep across Colton, Rialto, Fontana and San Bernardino.
Karol said it is too early to quantify the net gain from Thursday's raids.
"There are a lot of additional cases and crimes in cities all over the area that we potentially may be able close out with what we gathered today," Karol said.
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