Reward offered in brazen attacks on police

[ilbegone]

Third Attack Hits Hemet Gang Task Force

KESQ.com News Services

HEMET - An anti-gang officer in Hemet discovered today that a device had been attached to his car with potentially deadly consequences -- in what appears to be the third attempt in two months to injure or kill members of an anti-gang unit in southwest Riverside County.

According to Hemet police, around 8 a.m., a member of the Hemet/San Jacinto Gang Task Force parked his unmarked vehicle next to an AM/PM store at 298 S. Sanderson Ave. and spotted a threatening device adjacent to the car.

The Hemet police officer immediately cleared the area and requested the sheriff's bomb squad to investigate, said Hemet police Lt. Duane Wisehart.

Authorities cordoned off the intersection of Sanderson and Acacia avenues and closed access to the area from surrounding streets and parking lots, Wisehart said.

"We're not releasing what type of device it was," he told City News Service. "All we can say is it would have killed or injured the officer if it had done what it was supposed to do."

According to the lieutenant, the explosive device had been affixed to the officer's vehicle prior to his arriving at the mini mart.

The sheriff's bomb unit disabled the instrument, and the area was reopened to traffic around 1 p.m., Wisehart said.

No suspects have been identified.

The task force, which is comprised of Riverside County sheriff's deputies, Hemet police officers and other law enforcement officials, has been targeted twice before.

On Dec. 31, authorities discovered that a natural gas line on the roof of the task force's headquarters building had been redirected into the facility, filling it with gas, which could have caused an explosion.

On Feb. 23, an anti-gang officer was opening a gate at the task force's office in the 500 block of Saint John Place when he was nearly struck by a bullet that was part of a booby trap triggered when the gate moved.

The task force is now operating from an undisclosed location.

On Tuesday, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of whoever is responsible for the previous two attacks.

"I'd like to think the money will lead us to the people doing this," said Wisehart. "There's no honor among thieves, so hopefully someone will give it up."

He said the threats not only create undue stress, but tear investigators away from other cases.

"Some things end up on the back-burner when you've got this kind of intense investigation," Wisehart said.

Authorities suspect area gangs are behind the attacks.

[ilbegone]

"It's like war," said Hemet police Lt. Duane Wisehart. " Based on everything that's happened, we didn't want to get to close to it."

http://blogs.pe.com/news/digest/2010...ay-be-thi.html

"Right now it is believed that it is related to the other incidents, yes," Lt. Duane Wisehart said. "Somebody's apparently declared war on us." http://www.mydesert.com/article/2010...-officer-s-car

No arrests have been made in either case but investigators lifted DNA and a fingerprint from the roof of the building after the gas incident. http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktl...0,765787.story

[Kathy63]

This is the same kind of war being fought in mexico. I can't believe the cops are so stupid that they can't recognize this. I guess they'll have to have heads rolled into a local bar to get the message.

Pretty soon I suppose they will start finding the bodies of tortured citizens dumped in front of the police station.

The police are going to treat this as random acts of violence until it is so huge and out of control the police chief asks for asylum in Montana.

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Third attack attempted on gang officers
A Hemet gang officer's vehicle was booby-trapped Friday with a device that police described as "designed to kill" -- the third assassination attempt since New Year's Eve against task force officers.
A member of the Hemet-San Jacinto Gang Task Force parked at an am/pm convenience store at Sanderson and Acacia avenues in Hemet about 8 a.m. Friday and went inside to buy coffee. When he came out, he saw a suspicious device on the pavement next to his car and called for help, Hemet police Lt. Duane Wisehart said.
"It's like war," Wisehart said, standing next to yellow crime scene tape as the device was being inspected. "Somebody's going to get lucky eventually -- or what will be unlucky for us."
Police declined to describe the device but said it was designed to kill the officer when he approached the car and got in, or when he got out, Wisehart said.
Police are not sure whether the device was attached to the plainclothes officer's black, unmarked Crown Victoria at his home or some other place where it was parked. The device was on the car when he drove to the am/pm market, and it fell off there.
"The first thing you think is if they're following you," Wisehart said. "They may be watching us as much as we're watching them."
The investigation shut down city streets for blocks in south Hemet and prompted the evacuation of several businesses near the market. Hemet police called the Riverside County sheriff's Hazardous Device Team.
Bomb technicians, one wearing a black mask, inspected the car with the aid of a bomb-sniffing dog. They determined the device was not explosive.
Hemet police will send it to the Department of Justice to be tested for fingerprints and DNA. The officer's car will be stored as evidence. Police are studying surveillance footage from the store.
"For our guys, the message is that you're not safe anywhere," Wisehart said.
The gang task force was targeted twice before -- on New Year's Eve and again last week -- at its office near the Hemet police station. After the second attack, the team moved to a new site.
In the first attack, someone cut a hole through the building's roof and rerouted a line to fill the office with natural gas, intending it to explode when a person turned on a light or computer, causing a spark.
Last week, a rolling gate was booby-trapped with a firearm that would fire a bullet at anyone opening it. The bullet narrowly missed an officer.
No suspects have been identified, but police think it may be a gang under investigation. Before the Dec. 31 incident, police had cracked down on outlaw motorcycle gangs, and a white-supremacist gang was dismantled last year. None has been linked to the attacks.
No gangs or suspects have been ruled out, Wisehart said.
Each incident is being investigated by Hemet police, the gang task force and the FBI.
"We will get them," Police Chief Richard Dana said.
Hemet police have declined to state what specific measures are being taken to protect officers. Dana said officers may seem less friendly in interacting with the public, out of concern for their safety.
The gang task force is made up of seven officers from Hemet police, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, the district attorney's office and probation and parole departments. It is one of eight units in the county. Police have not said which officers from which agencies were involved in the incidents, but said it was a different officer each time.
Gang task force officers aren't uniformed, but wear black bullet-proof vests.
The San Jacinto Valley has about 2,000 gang members who either are locals or have moved there from Los Angeles, said Hemet police Lt. Mark Richards, a one-time task force leader.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors last week offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to a conviction in the cases.
Hemet City Councilwoman Robin Lowe said she would seek assistance from state legislators to restore staffing that the Hemet Police Department lost to budget cuts.
"This is a domestic terrorist attack on our Police Department and our community," Lowe said.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/s...e.228f173.html

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Anti-Gang Police Officer's Car Booby Trapped With Deadly Device
An anti-gang officer in Hemet, Calif., discovered a deadly device attached to his car Friday — in what appears to be the third attempt in the past two months to injure or kill members of an anti-gang unit in southwest Riverside County, MyFoxLA.com reported.
An officer with the Hemet/San Jacinto Gang Task Force called for back-up after discovering a threatening device next to his car, parked outside of a store. Authorities cordoned off the intersection near the vehicle while a bomb unit disabled the instrument.
The explosive device had been affixed to the vehicle prior to the officer's drive to the store, Hemet police Lt. Duane Wisehart told MyFoxLA.com.
"We're not releasing what type of device it was," Wisehart said. "All we can say is it would have killed or injured the officer if it had done what it was supposed to do."
Authorities have not yet named a suspect.
The booby trap comes months after authorities discovered a natural gas line on the roof of the task force's headquarters building had been redirected into the facility — filling it with gas, which could have caused an explosion. In February, an anti-gang officer was opening a gate at the task force's office when he was nearly struck by a bullet that was part of a booby trap triggered when the gate moved, MyFoxLA.com reported.
The task force is now operating from an undisclosed location.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of whoever is responsible for the previous two attacks.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588251,00.html

[Kathy63]

From my friend who lives out there, the opening that the gangs took advantage of was a senior HUD housing development for the low income elderly. After complaints that this HUD housing was discriminatory, it was opened to all low income families. The gangs swooped in on the backs of anchor babies and welfare receiving mothers. The elderly were forced out as the targets of rising violence.

The rest is Juarez, or maybe Tijuana. Just like in mexico, the war is against the police. It will spread to target the politicans. If I worked at City Hall, I be demanding those gas lines be inspected too.