Sweep Nets High-Risk Sex Offenders, Guns, Fugitives

A four-day law enforcement sweep by state, local and federal agencies in the Long Beach area has netted 280 arrests, including 51 ``high risk'' sex offenders, authorities said Friday.

A task force nicknamed "Operation Summer Heat" included staff from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Long Beach Police Department, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, announced Rob Maldonado of the state corrections agency (CDCR) and LBPD.

The goal of the operation was ``to arrest fugitives, high risk sex offenders, active gang members and other dangerous criminals,'' Maldonado said. Among the arrestees were at least 67 known gang members.

According to Long Beach Police Department's rundown on the operation, it yielded:

- 280 arrests (171 felony arrests, 109 misdemeanor)
- 75 of the 280 arrested were gang members
- 242 citations issued (40 misdemeanor, 202 traffic)
- 200 sex offender compliance checks conducted
- 102 probation compliance checks conducted
- 32 vehicles impounded
- 6 guns seized

"In addition to these statistics, a fugitive sex offender was located out of state and arrested as a result of one of the sex offender compliance checks," LBPD stated. "Detectives learned during the check that the offender had failed to register as required by law, and was possibly living in Louisiana. The U.S. Marshals Service worked closely with their counterparts in Louisiana, who located and arrested the fugitive, who is being held on a $1,000,000 dollar warrant and facing extradition back to California."

The U.S. Marshals Service task force includes personnel from the CDCR's Office of Correctional Safety-Fugitive Apprehension Team; the U.S. Marshals Service; and the Long Beach Police Department, which listed the following agencies also involved in the sweep: 

California Highway Patrol
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
- Los Angeles County Probation Department
- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- Department of Children and Family Services
- Department of Homeland Security
- Los Angeles Police Department
- Glendale Police Department
- Pasadena Police Department

Long Beach Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell and David Singer, U.S. Marshall, Central District of California, met with reporters at Friday press conference at LBPD to display some of the seized evidence and offer details.

According to the Press Telegram:  A dozen children were removed from unfit conditions by Department of Children and Family Services social workers working with officers and agents, said Long Beach Deputy Police Chief Robert Luna..

To read more details about the case and see photos, click here. 

Here is a link to the State Attorney General's and Long Beach's Megan's Law site of registered sex offenders and their cross-street residences.

Since July, 2006, all 50 states have been participating in the National Sex Offender Public Registry.  Information is available from Department of Justice on the agency's Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website.

--City News Service contributed reporting.