"...now we are able to identify those who are hiding under the protection of lying to law enforcement or lying to the court system and now we are able to associate them with an actual gang or associate them with gang members,” said Mike Boudreaux (left) with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Investigation Bureau.

RICHGROVE – Nearly two dozen law enforcement agencies came together on Aug. 25 to serve search warrants in two Tulare County communities in an attempt to identify gang members and seize illegal weapons.

The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of several other law enforcement agencies, served 23 search warrants simultaneously in the cities of Richgrove and Delano.

The search warrants are known in the law enforcement community as “Gang Association” warrants, officials said.

“Serving each location at the same time allows us to keep evidence from being moved from one location to another and deters communication between gang associates during the detail,” said Sgt.Rob Moore, supervisor for the South County Team of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Gang Violence Suppression Unit.

Gang Association warrants are different from regular search warrants because they don’t justify a specific person, time or place, he said.

They identify a specific gang and its members who are involved in criminal activities, and allow law enforcement officials to search for evidence of crimes known to be committed by these specific gangs, according to the sheriff’s office.

The warrants also help officers identify people who are associated with specific gangs and validate them as gang members.

“A (Gang) Association warrant is helpful in the fact that not only have we identified affiliates of these gangs and known gang members, but now we are able to identify those who are hiding under the protection of lying to law enforcement or lying to the court system and now we are able to associate them with an actual gang or associate them with gang members,” said Mike Boudreaux with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Investigation Bureau.

The sheriff’s office served the warrants in the cities of Richgrove and Delano due to the high level of criminal activity reported in the area.

“The Richgrove area had numerous complaints from citizens involving acts of violence. Some of those acts of violence include shootings and we were specifically looking for gang members
affiliated or associated with these known gang groups involved in these acts,” Boudreaux said.

Through a thorough investigation, it was discovered that several subjects and addresses for assaults and drive-by shootings in the area were associated with the Northern and Southern criminal street gangs,
according to the sheriff’s office.

While serving the 23 search warrants, officers conducted 56 field interviews and made four arrests. They also seized six handguns, 10 rifles, two assault rifles, a baton, nunchucks, ammunition, and other miscellaneous items including gang indicia, cell phones, flash drives, and laptops.

Suspects arrested were: Victor Castro, 20; Veronica Luis Perez, 33; Luis Cortez, 19; and Jose Salazar, 33.

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“I wanted to change my life,” the ex-gang member said. The teenager’s name has been withheld at the request of prosecutors to protect his identity.

After quitting the gang, the victim said he was jumped by the 19-year-old defendant, Skyylr Hamilton, and two other gang members in front of his residence near Aviation Road in Fallbrook. Several weeks later on July 4, 2009, Hamilton and the victim fought again, but that time the victim got the better of Hamilton.

Then, on Sept. 28, 2009, as the ex-gang member walked home, he testified he encountered Hamilton and another gang member, prompting their third and final round of fights. As the former Fallbrook High students squared up, Hamilton pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim twice in the stomach rupturing his intestine, the teenager testified.

“I saw all my stuff coming out of my stomach,” the victim said.

Hamilton is charged with attempted murder with a weapon and gang allegations attached to the charge as well as several assault and weapons charges relating to the stabbing. He faces up to 24 years in prison if convicted.

The trial is expected to run two weeks.

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