| For Immediate Release August 7, 2006 |
Contact: | Susan Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel (714) 347-8408 Office (714) 323-4486 Cell |
GANG MEMBER NAMED IN INJUNCTION
FIRST TO BE CHARGED WITH VIOLATING
OPERATION SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD TERMS
SANTA ANA – A Santa Ana gang member will be in court for arraignment tomorrow for violating the terms of Operation Safe Neighborhood, the Gang Injunction that placed court ordered restrictions on 134 active members of a Santa Ana criminal street gang. Sixto Moreno, 27, of Santa Ana, is the first gang member to be arrested for violating the terms of the Gang Injunction court order. He was arrested by Santa Ana Police for wearing gang colors and clothing in the designated Safety Zone, as well as violating the 10:00 p.m. curfew. Moreno is charged with two misdemeanor counts of violating a court order and one count of committing a crime for the benefit of a street gang. He is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, August 8, 2006, at 9:00 a.m. at Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. If convicted, he faces one year in jail.
On August 5, 2006, at 10:45 p.m., Moreno is accused of walking down the 3300 block of West Chestnut Avenue wearing gang colors and clothing. He is accused of staying out in public past the 10:00 p.m. curfew, which is a violation of the terms specified in the injunction. West Chestnut Avenue is in the Safety Zone, a ¾ square mile territory in Santa Ana and Garden Grove that was named in the injunction as the known territory of the enjoined gang. In 2005, there were a number of crimes recorded within the safety zone, including two murders, 15 firearms violations, 12 felony assaults, 28 misdemeanor assaults, 28 robberies, 123 stolen vehicles, and 127 narcotics related incidents.
Judge Daniel Didier signed the injunction on July 14, 2006. The terms include a restriction that prohibits any association with the gang. This includes standing, sitting, walking, driving, gathering, or appearing anywhere in public or in public view with any known member of the gang. The terms also maintain that there can be no intimidation, no drugs, no alcohol in public, no guns or dangerous weapons, no fighting, no trespassing, no blocking free passage, no graffiti, no gang hand signs, no gang clothes, no burglary tools, no littering, and that the defendants must obey curfew and obey all laws.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Tracy Rinauro of the TARGET Unit is prosecuting this case.
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