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| Parolees targeted in morning gang raids by hundreds of officers |
| By presstelegram.com |
| Published: 07/26/2012 |
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Byron Castillo walked along a Hawthorne street this morning, spotted the team of law enforcement officers and figured his freedom was about to end. "Tell my mother I love her," he said as state parole agents motioned for him to come to them. Castillo, on parole for robbery, was among about 400 reputed gang members targeted countywide today in a massive operation to check whether gang members were complying with the terms of their releases from prison. Hundreds of state parole agents, sheriff's deputies, Los Angeles police officers and federal Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents conducted "Operation Guardian" with early morning raids from the South Bay to the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, awakening parolees and their families with knocks on the door beginning at 6 a.m. "State parole, open this door!" agents announced, breaking the quiet morning in Hawthorne. The Daily Breeze accompanied a team of parole agents and deputies that visited three Hawthorne apartments and a South Los Angeles house in search of four parolees. "We started planning this several months ago knowing that summer is one of the peak times for gang activity," said Luis Patino, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, which oversees state parole offices. "What we are trying to do is catch things before they happen. The concept is we go out and we surprise these parolees we know have gang ties." Agents jostled parolees and family members out of bed, then searched their residences for drugs, guns and other weapons, or graffiti that indicated they were still associating with gangs. Castillo, who agents said also has gun and drug offenses on his record, was not home when deputies arrived at his mother's apartment in the 4000 block of West 139th Street in Hawthorne. Three other adult residents were told to stand outside the apartment. A newborn and two other children remained asleep inside as parole agents worked. "May I ask what this is about exactly?" one upset family member asked deputies Castillo's mother told parole officers her son slept on the couch. A bucket of his clothes was next to it. Family members said he was staying with his girlfriend. Parole Agent Rick Audet said he found no violations in the apartment, determined enough food was available in the refrigerator for the children and was ready to move on to the next stop when Castillo strolled up the block. "Castillo, where you been?" one agent asked. Read More. |
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