57 HELD AS POMONA GANG IS TARGETED

Multi-agency sweep comes two years after a wannabe murdered a Highway
Patrol officer.

Two years after a CHP officer was gunned down by a teenager trying to
impress a notorious Pomona gang, state and local authorities arrested
57 people linked to the gang's alleged drug trafficking, gun buys and
street violence, officials said Monday.

The arrests in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, targeting the
12th Street Pomona gang also known as the Sharkies, were the result
of a yearlong investigation dubbed Operation Fishnet that involved
telephone wiretaps, informants and undercover agents, state Atty.
Gen. Bill Lockyer said.

"These criminal enterprises destroy communities and shatter innocent
lives with their evolving criminal tactics," Lockyer said. "Through
the hard work of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,
we are committed to taking back the streets."

The investigation was launched after California Highway Patrol
Officer Thomas J. Steiner was shot and killed outside a Pomona
courthouse in April 2004 by a 16-year-old who told police he was
trying to prove himself to the 12th Street gang.

Valentino Arenas told authorities he was not targeting Steiner, a
35-year-old father of two from Long Beach, but that he wanted to
shoot any lawman he could find.

Arenas pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and is serving a life
sentence without the possibility of parole at the California
Institution for Men in Chino. Because of Arenas' age, he was not
eligible for the death penalty.

"I sincerely hope the arrests resulting from this investigation bring
a sense of justice to the Steiner family and relief from fear and
intimidation to the citizens of Pomona," Will Telish, director of the
Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task
Force, said in a statement.

Charges ranged from conspiracy to commit murder to weapons and
drug-related violations. Authorities also seized 6 pounds of
methamphetamine, 18 pounds of methamphetamine ice, 14 grams of
cocaine, 36 grams of heroin and $23,000, along with dozens of
firearms, including an AK-47.

Those arrested ranged from ages 22 to 49 and included several
females. Authorities are still searching for eight additional suspects.

Almost 30 agencies were involved in the gang sweep, including the
Pomona Police Department, the state Department of Justice and
Steiner's agency, the CHP.

"It seems like it was just yesterday when [Steiner's] death took
place," Pomona Police Chief James M. Lewis said. "We want to send a
message to the gangs that they are going to pay a price, and to the
youth, that these people are not acceptable role models."

The Legislature decided in January to rename a stretch of the Pomona
Freeway, from Phillips Ranch Road through Reservoir Street, after
Steiner, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said gang crime could be
prosecuted and curtailed only with the help of the families of gang
members. He added they were in a position to stop the violence before
it started.

"It goes without saying there is only so much we can do," Cooley
said. "If the families don't help, they are the ones who are, in a
sense, aiding and abetting murders in Los Angeles County."

Pomona, a city of nearly 170,000 about 30 miles east of Los Angeles,
has long been considered a hotbed of gang activity, where members
engage in violent initiation rituals and spirited turf wars. The area
was under such duress that mail service was interrupted for more than
a year along one neighborhood block after a postal carrier became
frightened after witnessing a shooting.

The 12th Street gang -- which has close ties to the Mexican Mafia,
one of California's most powerful prison gangs -- uses the shark as
its symbol and has spread into western San Bernardino County.

It has about 1,000 active members and associates, with several
hundred more in jail or prison, and dates back generations.

The gang's criminal enterprises include large-scale drug trafficking,
extortion and murder, authorities said.

Pomona Mayor Norma J. Torres said she viewed the sweep as a step in
combating the city's gang violence.

"It's refreshing that there's been a focus on our town because we
were neglected for a long time," Torres said. "It's sad that it took
the life of a CHP officer, but now we are finally saying enough is enough."