15 Arrested Following Law Enforcement Sweep In Menifee, Perris

During a two-week period this month, sheriff's deputies conducted a narcotics sweep in Lakeland Village that netted 25 arrests.

Now the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department have announced that a Sept. 25 operation in Menifee and Perris targeting inmates on release resulted in 15 arrests.

Wednesday’s operation involved officers from the Menifee and Perris police departments targeting “Post Release Community Supervision offenders” in the respective cities and the surrounding unincorporated areas.

The officers worked in conjunction with county Post-Release Accountability Compliance Teams, whose job it is to monitor released inmates.

“The arrests included being in possession of drugs – including heroin for sale, child endangerment and being in violation of probation. One weapon was seized as was a yet-to-be-determined amount of illegal drugs,” the announcement from the DA's office read.

The operation was conducted from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and involved 44 law enforcement officers targeting 69 people, according to the announcement.

According to the sheriff's department, the following arrests were made:

• Rudolph Chavez, 43-year-old resident of Menifee; arrested on suspicion of violation of probation
• Randy Hinton, 38-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of under the influence of a controlled substance and violation of probation
• Eddy Franco, 34-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of violation of probation (booking photo not available)
• Eriberto Sanchez, 32-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of possession of narcotic paraphernalia and violation of probation
• Thomas Salyers, 49-year-old resident of Menifee; arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and violation of probation
• Tony Salyers, 53-year-old resident of Menifee; arrested on suspicion of felony warrant from San Bernardino County
• Claudia Ramirez, 24-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of child endangerment (booking photo not available)
• Oscar Luevanno, 27-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of possession of controlled substance, paraphernalia, child endangerment and violation of probation (booking photo not available)
• Jimmy Gregory, 38-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of possession of narcotic paraphernalia and violation of probation
• Lamar Boyd, 26-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of possession of controlled substance and violation of probation
• Brian Andrews, 35-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of violation of probation
• Allan Dopps, 43-year-old resident of Menifee; arrested on suspicion of violation of probation
• Jose Rangel, 27-year-old resident of Perris; arrested on suspicion of violation of parole
• Brian Serrano, 33-year-old resident of Menifee; arrested on suspicion of possession of heroin for sales and violation of probation
• Anthony Castellon, 25-year-old resident of Menifee; arrested on suspicion of possession of controlled substance and violation of probation

As a result of the state's AB 109 that went into effect on Oct. 1, 2011, offenders convicted of non-serious, non-violent, and non-registerable sex crimes are now being incarcerated in local jails instead of in state prison.

“Riverside County has been one of the hardest hit counties by realignment due to our lack of county jail space,” Riverside County DA Paul Zellerbach said. “That has resulted in 6,990 convicted felons being released early in 2012 and the county is on pace to release 11,000 to 12,000 convicted felons this year.

“The early release of these convicted felons creates a high degree of risk to the public,” Zellerbach continued. “It is through the efforts of our Post-Release Accountability Compliance Teams and operations such as this one that local law enforcement agencies are working together to help ensure the safety of the citizens of Riverside County.”

Before AB 109, offenders who were released were supervised by state parole agents but now, after realignment, they are on Post Release Community Supervision by county probation officers, according to the DA's office.

“Because of the thousands of prisoners being released early from county jails, local law enforcement agencies created Post-Release Accountability Compliance Teams, or PACT,” Thursday’s release from the DA's office read. “In Riverside County, the responsibilities of PACT have expanded to not only monitor PRCS releases from state prison but also convicted felons released from county jail on mandatory supervision. A primary mission of PACT is to work with local law enforcement agencies and the Riverside County Probation Department to direct immediate focus on ‘high-risk’ and/or ‘at-large’ PRCS offenders and those on mandatory supervision from county jail who pose the greatest risk to public safety.”

There are three regional Post-Release Accountability Compliance Teams in Riverside County: one each in the Central, Eastern and Western regions. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office currently has one Senior Investigator assigned to each team, as well as one deputy district attorney for all three teams.

“The operation on Wednesday was to attempt to find any of those who may have absconded as well as make sure those on PRCS or on mandatory supervision from county jail are in compliance with the terms of their release,” Thursday’s announcement read.

This week's multi-agency operation involved PACT – which is comprised of members of the DA’s Office, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Riverside County Probation Department, and the Riverside, Corona, Murrieta, Hemet, Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City and Beaumont police departments -- as well as Riverside County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Team and canine teams, members of the Riverside County Regional Gang Task Force, and state parole agents.

PACT will continue to conduct similar, unannounced operations like this one throughout Riverside County, according to the DA's office.