Operation Falcon nets 100 E.V. arrests

The U.S. Marshal's Office on Thursday announced the arrests of 643 fugitives in Arizona, including nearly 100 in the East Valley, during Operation Falcon.

The operation was an effort to take violent offenders and long-wanted fugitives off the streets. Federal and local law enforcement agencies worked together and netted the arrests during the last two weeks of June.

As with prior U.S. Marshal's operations, the emphasis during Operation Falcon 2009 was placed on the capture of violent offenders, gang members and sex offenders. Nationwide, the operation resulted in the arrest of 900 suspected gang members, 2,356 suspected sex offenders and 433 people wanted for homicide.

The arrests in Arizona ranged from a 75-year-old attorney in Tucson who is suspected of bilking his clients out of $1.2 million to a 14-year-old gang member from Los Angeles who police said is continuing his gang activity here. The arrests removed six firearms from the streets and cleared nine homicide warrants, officials said.

"Some of those arrested are predators who put no value on someone else's life, and others arrested simply may have not showed up for a court date," said David Gonzalez, U.S. Marshal for the District of Arizona. "A lot of agencies partnered and worked hard to get a lot of work done, but there's still a lot of work to do."

Of the 53,000 outstanding warrants in Arizona, 38,000 of them are in Maricopa County, according to the U.S. Marshal's Office.

Seventy-five percent (272) of the arrests made during the two-week operation were drug-related. Nine percent, or 55, of the arrests were for sex-related offenses, a high number, according to Tracy Montgomery, assistant chief of the Phoenix Police Department's Homeland Security Division.

Some sex offenders move from one state to another and do not register, making it difficult to track them. It's difficult to know what percentage of sex offenders remain unregistered, Montgomery said.

"We focused on that," he said of targeting sex offenders. "Victims can't move on with their lives until we make an arrest of these suspects. Often, a sex offender has a family member who will let us know where someone moved to so we can find them in the event they are not registered, and that helps."

Five arrests were made in Apache Junction during the roundup. One was a suspect in a child molestation who nearly barricaded himself in a home before surrendering peacefully, according to Arnold Freeman, division commander for patrol and SWAT units for the Apache Junction Police Department.

Other law enforcement agencies that participated in Operation Falcon included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Public Safety, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the Apache Junction, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Scottsdale and Tempe Police Departments.

Falcon stands for Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally.

Mesa police Chief George Gascón, who will be leaving his job in Mesa for the chief's post with the San Francisco Police Department in about two weeks, was quick to note that repeat offenders were the focus of the roundup.

"Most of the crimes are being committed by repeat offenders," Gascón said. "About 10 percent of the criminals commit 50 to 55 percent of the crimes."