More Than 70 Theft, Robbery and Drug Suspects Caught in Raid

LANCASTER —  More than 70 people suspected of selling stolen property and drugs to undercover Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies were arrested Wednesday as authorities wrapped up a six-month sting operation.

The early-morning raids targeted 90 theft, robbery and drug suspects who were videotaped selling their illicit goods to deputies operating a phony store-front business almost directly across the street from the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station.

No one was injured during Wednesday’s raids or in the sting operation, authorities said, although one suspect barricaded himself in his home for an hour and a half before surrendering peacefully.

Dubbed “Project Men In Black,” the sting was staged to combat a steep rise in property crimes in Lancaster, authorities said. The operation was conducted by a partnership formed by the Sheriff’s Department and the city of Lancaster. The city contributed $355,000 in federal block grant funds to pay for the operation.

Between Nov. 15, 1997, and March 15, 1998, undercover deputies spent $83,000 to purchase roughly $1.1 million in drugs and stolen property, Sheriff’s officials said. Automobiles made up more than 90% of the value of the stolen goods, but deputies also purchased guns, drugs, televisions, computers, bicycles, cellular phones and even Nintendo games.

“It was quite an array of criminals who came into the shop,” said Sheriff Sherman Block. “This was a very dangerous operation for the people who were working in the store and we are pleased that it came off so well.”

More than 300 sheriff’s deputies took part in Wednesday’s raids, fanning out across this Antelope Valley city in the early morning hours to arrest suspects while they were still in bed.

With dozens of suspects arriving at the Lancaster station in the back of patrol cars, sheriff’s officials set up a makeshift booking center in the parking lot to speed their processing.

As one group of teenage suspects was herded into a sheriff’s van for a trip to Sylmar Juvenile Hall, several of the youths directed profanities at one of the undercover deputies who was standing nearby.

“Enjoy your jail time,” the deputy replied.

Among those targeted for arrest, 93% had prior criminal records and 40% were affiliated with gangs, including at least 19 members of one Lancaster gang, officials said.

Several suspects were arrested earlier--including Los Angeles County Probation Officer Christopher Truitt, who allegedly sold a half-pound of marijuana to deputies.

“We expect this to have a major impact on crime in Lancaster,” said Mayor Frank Roberts. “These guys are the professionals, the working criminals.”

While the sting operation will help boost the campaigns of Roberts and Block, both of whom are running for reelection this year, family members of some of the suspects accused deputies of using excessive force during the raids.

“They came bursting through our door yelling and pointing guns at the children,” said Lancaster resident Karen White, whose 17-year-old son was picked up. “They didn’t have to do it like that, pointing a gun at a 2 1/2-year-old boy.”

Sheriff’s officials defended their actions, noting that no one was hurt in the raids, some of which targeted individuals with records of violent behavior.

To demonstrate the dangers faced by deputies involved in the sting, officials played excerpts from videotapes made by a camera hidden in the phony storefront. The video will be key evidence against the suspects if they go to trial.

In one scene, a nervous suspect tells deputies he will come back and shoot them if he finds out they are law enforcement officers. In another, several gang members negotiate a price for a Honda only moments after they stole it at gunpoint from a woman in the parking lot of a nearby library.

“It could be scary,” Block said. “When someone takes a gun out of their belt the deputies didn’t know if he was there to sell it to them or rob them.”

“We did everything we could to maintain our cover but the possibility that we would be found out was on our minds each and every night,” said West Hollywood Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Hickey, one of four officers deployed in the shop.

“We feel good about this result,” Hickey said. “That’s 70 less people that are going to be breaking into people’s houses and stealing their cars and making life miserable for everyone else.”