Armed Gang Members From Neighboring Cities Arrested in Highland Park

On two separate occasions in the last week, Northeast LAPD arrested armed alleged gang members from neighboring cities who were in Highland Park.

According to Officer Curtis Davis of Northeast LAPD's Crime Analysis Unit, an alleged gang member from Pasadena who was armed with a loaded handgun was arrested by the department's gang unit on Monday, Jan. 23. The suspect was also in possession of a ski mask at the time of the arrest.

Davis said Northeast LAPD's gang unit "intercepted" another alleged gang member from Rockwood, who was in the neighborhood with a handgun.

"It's tough to say what they were doing in the neighborhood, because they don't share that kind of information when you arrest them," Davis said. "But, our gang unit has been very vigilant, and according to our numbers, there have only been two gang related crimes in the division in the last week."

Davis would not disclose exactly where the arrests took place, when asked. 

Davis said the last time that the neighborhood had seen an influx of alleged gang members was in 2008, following an F.B.I and LAPD raid of the notorious Drew Street house in Glassell Park, which led to the arrest of 28 people in an attempt to root out entrenched local gangs.

"What we're seeing is the entry of some outside gang members into the Northeast," Davis said. "Sometimes this happens as a result of a power vacuum, but it's still too early to say if that's the case here." 

Northeast LAPD's jurisdiction includes the neighborhoods of Atwater Village, Cypress Park, Eagle Rock, East Hollywood, Echo Park, Elysian Park, Elysian Valley, Franklin Hills, Garvanza, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Los Feliz, Mount Washington, Silver Lake and Solano Canyon.