BUSTED: Gang sweep nets 86 fugitives

Nearly half of the 93 gang-involve fugitives targeted by Tri-City law enforcement were arrested last week in a gang sweep dubbed "Operation Summer Heat," officials said.

Local, state and federal officers worked together to arrest 45 fugitives, including 12 juveniles, during the five-day operation.

"Our commitment to citizens is we’re going to keep them safe," said Kennewick Police Chief Ken Hohenberg. "Our commitment to criminals is we’re going to continue to hunt them down and put them in jail."

Fugitives were also rounded up this time in Yakima, Grant, Chelan and Walla Walla counties as part of an expanded gang sweep led by the U.S. Marshals.

"Operation Cooperation" targeted gangs, violent offenders and fugitives with felony warrants, said U.S. Marshals Chief Deputy Eric Marks.

In all, Operation Cooperation put 162 criminals behind bars, including 13 from Walla Walla, 48 in Yakima Valley and 86 in the Tri-Ciites, Marks said.

 The results of the two operations were announced this morning at a news conference at the Kennewick police station that included chiefs and sheriffs from Tri-City agencies, Yakima, Sunnyside and the U.S. Marshals.

Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin said they also recovered eight stolen vehicles from a chop shop and discovered a marijuana grow operation while serving search warrants for fugitives.

"We communicate up and down the Valley from county to county and it’s so valuable to fighting the criminals," Irwin said. "But sometimes you have to just sweep crud off the streets and that’s what these operations do."

Sunnyside Chief Ed Radder added that the widespread cooperation among counties lets criminals know there’s "no safe haven." If they outrun officers in the Yakima Valley, Tri-City officers will be waiting for them and it works the other way too, he said.

Operation Cooperation is the first operation for the newly formed Pacific Northwest Violence Offender Task Force, which covers Washington, Oregon and Alaska, Marks said. From Wenatchee to the Yakima Valley to Walla Walla and down to Milton-Freewater, agents targeted fugitives and made several notable arrests.

Likely the biggest one was in Spokane where task force agents tracked down a Lewis County man wanted in connection with a triple homicide.

John Allen Booth, 31, was arrested Wednesday night in Spokane after a statewide manhunt, and in Kennewick, Noel Gonzalez, 26, was arrested on a vehicular homicide warrant, Marks said.

"It’s not just about the number of arrests, it’s about the impact we make in the community," Marks said. "… We want to assure the bad guys out there that we’re not going away."

-- Paula Horton