http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California2/C ... 47CA.shtml

Police execute large raid on gang suspected in officers' death

The Associated Press
June 21, 2005
BURBANK

Federal and local law enforcement agencies joined forces for an overnight raid Tuesday on members of a San Fernando Valley gang suspected of involvement in the shooting deaths of two police officers, authorities said.

The raid, which targeted 42 gang members in Los Angeles, Palmdale, Rosamond, Valencia, Bakersfield and Simi Valley, began around 3:30 a.m., said LAPD Chief William Bratton at a 5 a.m. news conference.

Police suspected members in the fatal shooting of Los Angeles Officer James Beyea in 1988 and the 2003 shooting death of Burbank Officer Matthew Pavelka.

Pavelka, 26, became the first law enforcement official murdered in the 82-year history of the Burbank Police Department on Nov. 15, 2003 when two gunmen showered him and a second officer with gunfire. Officer Gregory Campbell, a 15-year veteran, was paralyzed in the shooting.

The suspect in Pavelka's death, 21-year-old David Garcia, was arrested in Mexico in December 2003 and returned to California to face charges of murder, attempted murder of a police officer, transportation of methamphetamine and multiple gun-related charges.

The case didn't end there, police said Tuesday.

"We vowed at the time that we would not rest until we stopped the Vineland Boys from being able to run their criminal enterprise," said Burbank Police Chief Thomas Hoefel. "Chief Bratton said that when this operation was all over we needed to do something to put them out of business for good."

Bratton said early Tuesday that the raid, which used 900 local and federal officers, had netted 19 arrests and officer were still serving warrants on the 259-member gang.

"We intended to make this gang the poster boy of gangs poster boy in the sense that if you want to be a gangbanger we are more than happy to put the resources into locking you up and putting you away for the rest of life," Bratton told KTLA-TV. "That's what's going to happen to a lot of these characters. They are never going to see the light of day again."

Published: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 05:47 PDT