Six arrested in citywide hunt

Deepa Bharath

A citywide, multi-agency search ended early Wednesday when police

arrested six locals believed to be gang members or gang associates in

connection with an alley shooting the night before Thanksgiving on

the city’s north side that left two people injured, officials said.

Sixty officers from the Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Santa Ana

police departments, as well as officials from the Orange County

district attorney’s office and the Probation Department, served

search warrants on several locations in different parts of the city,

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney said.

They combed the 700 block of Shalimar Drive, two locations in the

1000 block of Mission Drive, the 400 block of Merrimac Way, the 2500

block of Kincaid Drive, the 1000 block of El Camino Street, the 2500

block of Christopher Lane and the 2400 block of Harbor Boulevard, he

said.

In the end, they recovered one handgun and ammunition from the

search and arrested Enrique Olaguez and Gustavo Zamora, both 19;

Guillermo Arturo Ascencio II, 22; 20-year-old Christian Hernandez;

and two 17-year-old boys who are not being identified because they

are minors, Birney said.

The Nov. 26 shooting occurred in the 3000 block of Coolidge Avenue

after the two victims -- a man and a woman -- got into an argument

with the group of suspects. The fight escalated, and several rounds

were fired from a handgun, sending the two victims to the hospital

with gunshot wounds.

Birney declined to talk about the motive for the shooting because

the incident is still under investigation.

“It was not a gang-versus-gang type of incident,” he said. “But

all of them are either gang members or are affiliated to a gang.”

All suspects are being charged with attempted murder and

conspiracy to commit murder.

“Although not all of them actually fired the weapon, they were all

involved in the crime and its implementation,” Birney said.

The four adult suspects are being held in Costa Mesa jail with

bail set at $1 million each. The two minors are being held in Orange

County juvenile hall.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].