Operation Omega Red, put together by the Concord Police Department, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and several partner agencies, resulted in the arrest and successful prosecution of 15 gang members and their associates, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office.
The suspects have been convicted of felony offenses, most of those being serious or violent strike felonies, the D.A.’s Office said.
In all, over 165 years of custody time resulted from the Omega Red prosecutions.
“We focused our efforts on the violence drivers – the individuals who were committing the most serious acts of violence and putting the community in the greatest danger,” said Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton.
Between July of 2015 and June of 2016, there were 11 shootings between gang members in the Central and Eastern parts of Contra Costa County. Seven of these shootings resulted in homicides. Four of those murders occurred on Highway 4, two occurred in Concord and one took place in Bay Point.
Concord Police and other law enforcement agencies believed these shootings were related to an ongoing gang war in the Central and Eastern parts of Contra Costa County.
The arrests took place in August of 2016, and today, the last of the suspects pleaded no contest to attempted murder with firearm use and committing the crimes for the benefit of a gang.
22 comments
Our fearless DA sounds like she was right in the middle of it. Doubtful . She was probably plagiarizing something , again.
“We focused our efforts on the violence drivers – the individuals who were committing the most serious acts of violence and putting the community in the greatest danger,” said Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton.
Who’s “We? “The investigation happened long before she took over. However, I think it’s comical that she wants to take credit for it! Not!! If she had anything to do with it, it would not have happened!
Thank you.
I am sure Mr. Newsom will feel sorry for them and figure out a way to get them out.
Arrests made 8/16, now receiving sentences, please refer to Manaforte, Gen. Flynn for comparative timelines in bringing so called justice, they must have been considered even greater threats to our society. “We focused our efforts on the violence drivers – the individuals who were committing the most serious acts of violence and putting the community in the greatest danger,” so the rest of the garbage that is committing God knows what on the streets is ignored. They use this as a headline to get a pat on the head, most would view this as an abject failure to protect and safeguard our community.
Are any of them in the country illegally? If they are, you can bet sanctuary California will not deport them after they are released from prison.
By saying “over 165 years of custody time,” it makes it seem like a long sentence, but it’s 15 gang members serving 165 years collectively, which means they will be out sooner than you think.
Some will be serving longer sentences than others, if it was divided evenly it would amount to 11 years each, and they will get credit for time already served since their arrest in August 2016. Some of them may be out in less than 8 years.
Hopefully they all get a fair trial, and if they’re found guilty then may they serve a harsh sentence. Harsh enough to realize that they want to turn their lives around and contribute to society in the future.
They’ve already been tried, convicted, and sentenced. And no, they did not get a harsh enough sentence. Some of them will be out in less than 8 years.
From what I see on information channels, leaders of gangs can still run their business from the inside.
Can we just say our court system is corrupt.
WAIT A MINUTE !!! These guys killed seven people plus all the mayhem they committed and they only got eleven years apiece. I hope I am reading this story wrong.
Well, we need more information about the years of sentencing for the various acts, etc…
The story was so generalized that not a lot can be derived from it.
Several of them should have gotten life without possible parole, looks like soft sentencing to me. 108RS
Has the City of Concord had a lot of gang related murders in recent years? I don’t think so. Concord has had an average of 3 or 4 murder per year for the last 15 years according to the data I looked at.. Most of the murders are not done by Concord residents. The fact that we have few murders in Concord – year after year – sort of indicates to me Concord does not have a gang problem.
Were these two gang members, killed by other gang members, Concord residents? Where the shooters Concord resdients? What gangs are operating in Concord? What are the names of the gangs? As a Concord resdident I am interested in this. I recall outgoing Chief Swanger claiming there was an “uptick” in gang related murders in Concord, nessecitating more of the city budget flow into the PD. I also recall Swanger appearing at these dramatic press conferences about “Operation Omega”.
I myself am skeptical Concord has a gang problem, the lack of murders in Concord seems to indicate that. Does Concord have outdoor drug dealing? That’s usually a precursor to gang murders, rival outdoor drug dealers fighting over turf. It seems to me to have a gang problem you have to have gangs in Concord, and outdoor drug dealing. You also typically need bad neighborhoods, neighborhoods where the rents are cheap, neighborhoods with a lot of folks on county aid (Concord has among the lowest welfare caseload per 1,000 residents in the County).
I don’t know about others, but I haven’t seen any Crips or Bloods in Concord lately no Hells’s Angels, No Banditos either. Does the Mexican Mafia have a chapter here? Do we have Asian gangs in Concord? How about Russian gangs?
Isn’t it a fact these gang murders in Concord – being ballyhooed by Concord PD – were outliers, not a common occurence. If a murder happens on the freeway, on the way to Orinda – is that an Orinda gang related murder? Was this big gunfight in Orinda where five people were killed – done by a bunch of non-resdients who rented a mansion in a Orinda – an Orinda murder? Should the City of Orinda now fund an expensive costly “gang task” force, or buy one of these big Police Tanks like we have in Concord (which, by the way, is rarely used). should 10 more officers be hired to aptrol orinda streets
While Concord may have had some involvement in “Operation Omega” I think it’s likely the Concord PD’s’ involvement is peripheral, I beleive the connection the shooters had to Concord, and the victims, was likely negligible.
The PD, however, is playing this up because they need to justify the astronomical amounts of city money being poured into the Concord PD, money that is being spent to fight what amounts to be a pretend crime wave. Concord, like Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek, does not have a real gang problem, maybe you get some bad guys coming into our city once in awhile, but this story the Concord PD peddles about gangs in Concord is a joke.
We Concord resdients have been hearing about the “gang problem” in Concord for years now, but nobody at Concord PD can tell you how many gangs we have in concord, what there names of the gang are, or how many mebers the gangs have. People sitting on the Concord council ought to be asking these questions, but they don’t, they just sit back and fork over more and more money to the PD.
That’s a heck of a dreamworld you’re living in Lars. I guess it’s safe as long as you keep your head solidly under ground. Should you choose to pay attention to your surroundings, I would suggest driving along the Monument corridor and/or Olivera Road area. You’ll very quickly see the gang graffiti. Likewise, notice the guys dressed completely in red. That should also be a sign.
%99 of all Concord murders are done by an”immigrant” to another immigrant.It is Concord residents,but anyone that landed here is.A gang member isn’t a resident?You are making things up,a news article saying that it was gang related means IT IS Concord people that are commiting local crime..And they are gang members that live here.Not too many out of towners coming to Concord to murder people,It’s usually a local dispute.Just like the one that happened 2 weeks ago.
Lars,things here are not like the old country.
OK I just read the DA’s report. Two guys got thirty five years and one got twenty five years. So you can kill four people in gang war and get thirty five years instead of life or the gas chair or injection. Wonderful. It is a little better than eleven though.
I do not want to know anymore! More info is not what I need. Who cares about who takes credit? I am sure the people involved know who did what. Life is too short to care anymore. I am thankful they all got rounded up. Thank you all. Again good job. People love to complain as you can see about nothing. Kind of pointless, instead of focusing on the good job you all did. I think people do not have enough to keep them occupied and busy.
Speaking of loving to complain about nothing, here you are. Maybe you should find something to keep you occupied and busy.
Spoken like a true California voter!
Fake. There is no gang problems in Contra Costa County. These are kids for the most part who come from decent families looking to fit into something. Go to real gang infested cities, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Hayward, San Jose, Salinas, Modesto, Stockton Etc with real gang problems then try to compare concord and other cocoo cities and argue that there is a “gang” problem here. When I drive through my city (concord) i do not feel like i need to stay away from this part of town or that part of town.
Look at the “gang graffitti” throughout contra costa county. looks like a kindergardener got hold of a spray can. the blacksheeps of their families, bad in school, living rent free in their parents nice concord homes who do not want to work so they sell drugs or “pimp” the parents enable it. Now we have a gang task. all this does is make these wanna bes feel like they are getting recognition when they make the news or get an article in the paper. they clip it and add it to their collection to make them feel good about themselves. no problem here.
There’s a difference between graffiti and gang tagging. Those who create graffiti consider it self expression or “art”. Gang members (or wannabes) use tags to mark their territory or to communicate with rival gangs. Most of what you see is graffiti.
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