California police arrest dozens in major anti-gang operation

Dozens of people were arrested Friday in a multi-department sweep of a suspected gang operation in Southern California, police said. 

The arrests were spearheaded by the San Bernardino Police Department with help from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and surrounding cities. 

The operation – part of a program called San Bernardino Movement Against Street Hoodlums (SMASH) – was in response to rising gang activity in San Bernardino, which is about an hour’s drive east of Los Angeles. 

OREGON STATE HOUSE CANDIDATE SUES MASSAGE PARLOR AFTER ALLEGED GROPING

“Recently, a beautiful, innocent, 8-year-old girl was shot in the face by gang members as she played in front of her home,” said San Bernardino Police Chief Darren Goodman said in a statement, adding that several recent murders in the city were gang-related as well.

Officers made 30 felony arrests and 12 misdemeanor arrests, San Bernardino police said. The department also recovered more than a dozen firearms, three ounces of methamphetamine, one ounce of cocaine, a “large amount” of PCP, and two stolen vehicles. 

The names of those arrested have not been released at this time. San Bernardino Police Department says more sweeps are planned for the near future.