Spokane7
49°
July 14, 2010 in City
19 arrested in multi-agency gang sweep
One man was targeted by gunfire twice in 5 weeks. Another already faces an attempted murder charge for a June shooting. And several others are alleged to have sold large quantities of crack cocaine and methamphetamine throughout Spokane.
Those men were among 19 suspects arrested today as part of an 18-month drug and firearms investigation targeting Spokane-area gangs.
The arrests are not connected to Tuesday’s homicide in the West Central neighborhood, nor to a gang shooting last month at Hoopfest.
“That’s an indication of the pervasiveness of the gang problem,” said Frank Harrill, agent in charge at the Spokane office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Harrill said more arrests are expected.
The investigation, a multi-agency effort called Operation Archangel, includes more than 30 grand jury indictments in what officials describe as an ongoing effort to expose gang suspects to stiff federal penalties. The arrests, which also include dozens of state charges, began early today and continued through the afternoon. A sheriff’s helicopter monitored raids in case suspects tried to flee; law enforcement reported no problems.
“There were several different groups of gangs that we were dealing with,” said Spokane County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Kittilstved. “We’re trying to go after … people within leadership positions within these criminal organizations, not just the small guys. We know it’s not as simple as just arresting our way out of it.”
Among those charged is Andrew T. Burns, a 36-year-old Los Angeles man already in jail on an attempted murder charge for a June shooting near East Mallon Avenue and North Madelia Street.
Burns and Dunshawn D. Morris, 31, face federal crack cocaine charges for alleged deals between Jan. 20 and Feb. 10, one day before a raid at Morris’ home at 14827 E. Mission Ave.
A search warrant filed in February shows investigators believe Morris bought the drug from Alberto “Perm” Villanueva, who also was arrested Wednesday and is charged in U.S. District Court with cocaine possession.
In January, investigators watched Villanueva, 28, sell suspected crack cocaine to Morris, who then sold a half ounce of crack cocaine to a confidential informant, according to court documents.
A confidential informant claimed to have “worked as a middle person between Perm and members of the Atlantic Drive Compton Crips, as Perm would not deal with them directly,” according to the warrant.
Members of that gang already are accused of the fatal Jan. 17 shooting of John S. Williams, 38.
One suspect, Justin A. Battle, 30, was arrested Wednesday and is charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a firearm; Spokane police found his fingerprints on the Ruger mini rifle fugitive Edward “TD” Thomas allegedly used to kill Williams. In Battle’s apartment, police found a bullet and a firearm part that belonged to the mini rifle, according to court documents.
Also arrested Wednesday was William W. Alexander-Durr, 27, who was arraigned on one count of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Details on the charge were not available, although Alexander-Durr was targeted in drive-by shootings in February and March, police said. He had previously pleaded guilty to riot in connection to a gang-related stabbing in front of a downtown Spokane night club in October.
Others arrested include: Ryan M. Hoffman, 32, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and felon in possession of firearm; Michael Anthony Green, 31, John Jacob Inglis, 24, and Michael R. Landeros, 38, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; Duane A. Martin, 39, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin; William Earl Ortiz, 39, distribution of methamphetamine; Cayetano Talavera, 27, possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine; Tracy K. McKenzie, 45, distribution of crack cocaine; Abraham Rodriguez, 48, Oscar Rodriguez, 25, and Lori Gonzalez, 23, possession and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; Sergio Armando Sandoval-Reyes, 24, Franklin Gabriel Vandagriff, 21, and Curtis Reese Storey, 27, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Human trafficking suspects released 
toobright on July 14 at 7:00 p.m.
Yeah! Boo-yah! Take that gang wanna-be’s!
eagleproducer on July 14 at 7:45 p.m.
It’s sad that the Feds have to be the ones to clean up Spokane. I guess too many of the boys in blue from our fair city are too busy covering up their crimes (allegedly) to take notice of gang activity right in front of their noses.
empyrius on July 14 at 7:47 p.m.
It sounds like they are gang members not “wanna-bes” . . .
Or are you still associating “gangs” with Harley riding cocaine dealing white dudes riding around shooting people?!?
I could take you on a guided tour of Hillyard, the westside, or the eastside, and introduce you to 21st century gang members (and not one of them rides a Harley).
The funny thing is though their probation officers are riding Harleys’; now that is really funny stuff there!
MaoTenDoo on July 14 at 8:44 p.m.
I wish we could deport these retards back to L.A.
Shylock13 on July 14 at 9:41 p.m.
I thank all involved. But we need more such law enforcement!!
zelda on July 14 at 10:53 p.m.
I will be the first to admit I don’t understand the jurisdictional aspects of law enforcement, but my guess is that the Feds are involved because this is some form of racketeering and there’s also manufacture and delivery of drugs occurring across state and national borders.
Anyway, good cooperative work by the FBI, SPD and sheriff’s department.
PlanB on July 15 at 12:15 a.m.
Excellent. I fully support real law enforcement efforts. Thank you for making us feel and be safe.
mikeln on July 15 at 3:39 a.m.
Now, just start treating the use of drugs as a heath issue instead of a crimminal issue, get rid of the profit and get rid of the gangs. We will then be truely safe and our law enforcement officers will no longer have to risk their life going after these people as they will no longer exist.
JayNW on July 15 at 6:57 a.m.
spoktukey, you obviously didn’t read the article. there were numerous local agencies involved in the investigation, however the gang members will be tried in federal court. That is nothing new. Most times a convicted felon in poss of a firearm is charged in federal court. They get more sentencing time than they do with the ultra liberal sentencing guidelines in the state of Washington.
and since our governor rather give herself a raise and spend money frivolously, instead of money toward law enforcement- they did need to use federal grant program to pay for the investigation on a local level.
kudos to all involved, thank you and lets hope these punks get some decent jail time.
mikeln on July 15 at 7:40 a.m.
Why should we pay to keep gang people in jail when we could eliminate the problem altogether by treating the drug problem as the health problem it is instead of a crimminal problem, which it is not. As long as we continue down this road we will not be safe. 19 arrests did nothing to make us safer as those people have already been replaced. Take the profit out of drugs, regulate them so we know who is useing them, and help these people when they develope a problem. Educate our children about the dangers of drug use. This would take the money away from gangs and would be a lot more cost effective then the failure we are paying for now.
brando767 on July 15 at 6:44 p.m.
Spokane needs to stop blaming everything on California,some of these gang bangers are from cali as people move from state to state or city to city.but don’t think for a second a whole street gang from L.A is gonna decide to relocate to Spokane for the hell of it ,the fools that shot 3 people during hoop fest are from A LOCAL street gang that’s based in Spokane and have no ties to California. (i have my resources)