Vagos members dispute gang allegations
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At a news conference following the raid, Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco said in recent months, the gang had gained "significant attention" from authorities. He did not give a reason for the exact timing of the sweep. Pacheco said the members pose "an extreme threat for law enforcement," but did not name Vagos members as suspects in a series of attacks on police in Hemet. He said additional enforcement on the Vagos were planned. "We've never said they are suspects in this whatsoever. The attacks have been made on gang task force officers. I think it's safe to assume it's not a resident mad at law enforcement," District attorney's spokesman John Hall said. Hemet police have said the raids on the Vagos were unrelated to the attacks on police, which involved booby trapping a building, gate and car related to Hemet Gang Task Force members and burning city vehicles. They have not been named as primary suspects but have not been ruled them out, Hemet police Lt. Duane Wisehart said. "As a department, we're leaning more toward it wasn't them than it was," he said. "I think it got taken out of context with the timing of the sweep. Correlations were drawn too quickly." Two weeks later, two of the 33 people arrested during "Operation Everywhere" remains in custody. Several Vagos members and their attorney said they did not believe any of the those arrested were actively involved in the group. "They demonize us and start locking everyone up left and right. In their eyes, everyone's a criminal," said Harry "Doc" Hart, 61, a Hemet dentist and Vagos member. "They can cry 'gang' and 'terrorist' to take DNA from people never arrested. We're subject to this because someone cries wolf." Hart said authorities used the raid as a guise to bring the state licensing board into his dental office and harass him in front of his patients. |
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