Law enforcement officials in Fresno on Monday announced the arrests of 103 fugitives in a sweeping gang enforcement operation involving state and local agencies.
U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott and Acting U.S. Marshal Karen Thomas announced the arrests following the effort led by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Scott and Thomas were joined by Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer and other agency representatives.
“A stated objective and goal of the Department of Justice in the present administration is to partner with out state and local law enforcement brothers and sisters to do all we can to reduce crime in general and violent crime in particular in our communities,” Scott said. “There is no better place than Fresno County for that relationship.”
Scott said the mission of the operation was for law enforcement officers to arrest those with outstanding arrest warrants in the community.
“Over the course of the last several days, here in Fresno County in general, and the city of Fresno in particular, Operation Washout has taken place,” Scott said. “There have been dozens of U.S. Marshals on the streets working directly with local law enforcement and state law enforcement to get those with arrest warrants off the streets and processed and into the criminal justice system.”
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer touted the reduced homicide rate in the city of Fresno in 2018.
“I’m proud to say that the time that we had Operation Washout in effect through the entire seven-day period, there was only one shooting in the city of Fresno,” Dyer said. “And that’s unique when you consider the number of shootings we’ve had over the past years.”
Acting U.S. Marshal Karen Thomas said 72 of the arrests were gang members or associates of gang members, and there were 18 firearms and $37,000 seized during the operation.