Local News

RICHMOND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― State and local authorities arrested 18 alleged Richmond gang members — including a city parks employee — during raids in the Bay Area on Thursday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said.
 
Narcotics agents served more than 40 search warrants and 43 arrest warrants at undisclosed locations in Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin and Sacramento counties — although most of the raids were carried out in the city of Richmond.

The "takedown" — dubbed "Operation Trident" — targeted the violent "Deep C" gang, which Brown said had "wantonly terrorizing the neighborhoods of Richmond with robberies, prostitution, drug trafficking and even murders."

In fact, state Department of Justice officials said the gang was believed responsible for more than half of Richmond's 47 homicides — the highest per-capita murder rate in California — and 350 shootings last year.

Brown spokeswoman Christine Gasparac said "Deep C" was short for "Deep Central" and its members were known for wearing Cincinnati Reds baseball caps. The "Deep C," formed in 2003, currently has about 100 members and is one of the area's most notorious gangs.

"They're one of the big ones in Richmond," she said. "The other one is the Project Trojans. There's a whole gang war between the two."

The Attorney General's 11-month investigation began after two of the alleged "Deep C" leaders, Todd Gillard and Rohnell Robinson, attempted to kill a Trojans gang member in a drive-by shooting at Hilltop Mall in Richmond — but instead shot the rival's 17 year-old girlfriend in the neck, leaving her a quadriplegic, Gasparac said.

Police said one of those arrested Thursday, Kaisha Hill, was a City of Richmond Parks and Recreation juvenile group counselor who had a stash at her home that included a kilo of cocaine and 3 guns, one of which was a Mac-11 automatic weapon.

Also arrested was 31-year-old Vegas Shackelford, a felon on parole who Brown said was a "shot caller." Shackelford allegedly led the Nickel Block, a subset of the "Deep C" that controlled the area around Fifth Street and Barrett Avenue. He was charged with several cocaine-related and conspiracy counts.

Brown indicated that most of the suspects arrested during the raids were either on parole or probation. The charges against those arrested ranged from assault with a deadly weapon to grand theft and possession of an assault weapon.

In addition to the arrests, agents said they seized substantial quantities of cocaine and marijuana, with an estimated street value of $100,000. Agents also said they seized 8 firearms, including a fully automatic weapon, a ballistic vest and more than $17,000 in cash.
 
"This was a tremendous effort involving several agencies to take down the viciousness and power of this gang," Brown said. "These guys had been creating havoc and terrorizing this community for the past five years and it had to stop."

But Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin said she was concerned about the impact the raids had on innocent people not involved in gang activity, people "whose homes and streets were descended upon by hundreds of police officers."

She said she heard that agents were knocking on doors and if there was no answer, they kicked them in.

In some cases grandparents whose grandchildren were targeted in the raids were home when SWAT teams searched their residences and were traumatized by the event, McLaughlin said.

Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus defended the raids, saying that "smart, targeted crime suppression efforts of this kind are critical," however he also emphasized that that the city needed to continue its crime prevention efforts as well — including providing young people with jobs and other alternatives to gang activity.

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