WAS THE RAID A BUST?

Most Of Those Arrested Are Back On Street; Officers Kicked In Door Of
Wrong Address

A week after more than 100 law enforcement officials swept through
three Merced County cities to crack down on gang violence, only two
of the seven people arrested during the pre-dawn raids remain in jail.

The Nov. 17 sweep -- which involved four SWAT teams and law
enforcement agencies from three counties -- netted one major suspect,
Jairo Lua, who is in jail charged with the Oct. 29 killing of Michael
Wallace, said Deputy District Attorney Dave Elgin.

Of the other men arrested that day, Jose Angel Fierro is in jail on
drug charges; Anthony Lucero was released but still faces a
methamphetamine possession charge; Joseph Peacock posted bail but
faces a weapons charge; and Reginaldo Ramirez, Alejandro Fierro, and
Luis Magana were released with no charges filed against them.

Deputies had originally arrested Ramirez and Alejandro Fierro in
connection with the Wallace killing.

The sweep's main target, 21-year-old Winton resident Gisell Campos,
is still at large wanted on charges related to the killing of Michael
Wallace, Sheriff Mark Pazin said.

Undersheriff Bill Blake estimated that the sweep cost about $25,000.

Blake said coordinating nine law enforcement agencies to strike at
eight locations simultaneously involved a "tremendous amount" of work.

Local media were invited to watch parts of the raid, and cameras
rolled while SWAT team armored vehicles surrounded houses in a part
of Merced County that Pazin called the "Bermuda triangle" of gang activity.

Pazin said the publicity surrounding the sweep was warranted because
the public needs to know that law enforcement is taking guns and
drugs off the streets.

Pazin said the sweep was well worth the effort.

"It's always worth it," Pazin said. "People are demanding more from
their law enforcement to stop these shootings and killings.

"I'd hate to imagine that we were accused of sitting on our hands and
there was some kind of gangland firefight in the street and an
innocent person gets hurt."

But one Atwater woman is calling herself an innocent victim of the
Nov. 17 sweep.

Mary Silva, a 68-year-old retiree, said deputies got the wrong house
when they burst into her Winton Way apartment at 6:30 a.m. on the day
of the raids.

Silva said she was sleeping when she heard loud banging at her front
door and a voice calling "Open up!"

Before she could answer, Silva said, deputies broke through her front
door and threw a smoke bomb onto her carpet. As Silva stood in her
nightgown, about 10 officers surrounded her with weapons drawn, she said.

They shouted, "Where is he? Where is he?"

Silva told deputies she lives alone. She said they responded, "Shut
up! Don't move!"

The team was looking for 24-year-old Reginaldo Ramirez, who lives
next door to Silva.

But the search warrant deputies gave Silva lists an entirely
different address -- not Silva's house or the house next door. Silva
said deputies gave her the search warrant several hours after the initial raid.

Pazin said deputies may have transposed numbers in the address on the
warrant, but that law enforcement acted in good faith when they
entered Silva's house.

Ramirez, who is the half-brother of Silva's grandson, listed Silva's
address as his own when he was arrested Nov. 17, Pazin said.

Pazin said Ramirez could have listed Silva's address as his own
during previous run-ins with the law and that the address could have
been listed in law enforcement records in connection with Ramirez.

Silva said Ramirez has never lived at or visited her house.

If deputies made a mistake when they served the search warrant, Pazin
said, the sheriff's department will pay to repair the damage to
Silva's apartment, which includes a burn mark on the carpet and a
fist-sized hole in the wall next to the front door.

"Let's point the finger where the blame really belongs, at the
individual who's using (Silva's) residence to conceal where he's
really living," Pazin said. "It's unfortunate (Ramirez) was using
some type of elderly relative to hide his true residence."

Silva said since the raid she can't stop shaking and is plagued by
dreams about people knocking on her front door.

"I've never seen such nasty people in all my life," she said. "You
don't talk to an old lady like that. At least show some respect."