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Ice cream purchase leads to alleged gang-member arrest
By Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Writer
11:33 AM PST, March 6, 2007


Police Chief William J. Bratton today announced details of the arrest of a second member of the Los Angeles Police Department's list of the 10 most-wanted gang members -- the takedown of a murder suspect after he bought ice cream in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.

Steve "Loco" Garcia, 43, was taken into custody Friday after a four-day surveillance operation by Mexican authorities. They took him to the U.S. border and handed him over to representatives of the U.S. Marshal's Office, who then delivered him to the state prison in Chino, where he is being held on a parole violation.

Bratton said Garcia had been sought by police since the Feb. 12, 2001, slaying of a gang associate, Kenneth Landon, at a Sylmar motel.

The details of Garcia's capture came just days after police announced the arrest of another member of the LAPD list, Angel Zevallos, who is accused of attempted murder and was detained in Guatemala.

"Two down, eight to go," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a City Hall news conference with Bratton. "The capture and arrest of two of the most violent offenders in two weeks sends a clear message that violent offenders will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law no matter where they run, no matter where they hide."

The mayor said targeting the most violent gang members is part of a strategy to reduce gang crime, which increased 15.7% last year in Los Angeles. Gang members were responsible for 56% of the homicides in Los Angeles last year.

L.A. officials conceded that Garcia had been he focus of a fugitive task force in Mexico for the last 18 months -- well before Bratton and Villaraigosa released the Top 10 list in February -- and that the reward offered by the city was not a factor in his arrest. But, Bratton said, publicizing the list of fugitives and a $50,000 reward for those on the list has generated information from the public on others.

"The purpose of the list is to refocus attention on these people that we have not been able to apprehend. In many instances they have fled the country," Bratton said.

Villaraigosa announced a replacement for Garcia on the list.

Arash Semerome Safaie, 32, is a member of the Hardtimes gang in the Santa Ana area and is wanted for shooting three people, one of them fatally, at a party on East 57th Street in the Newton area on Sept. 28, 2003. The shooting with a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun resulted in the death of 17-year-old Anna Vasquez.

Bratton said Safaie, who was born in Nayarit, Mexico, is believed to be on the run south of the border.

Villaraigosa said the arrests should silence naysayers who had warned that publicizing the names of targeted gang members would be counterproductive.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com