Officer, dog square off against Modesto mob of 60 - Page 1

Local Modesto branch of one of the Mexican Drug Cartels in action defining their turf.  200 cities accross the USA now have established branches for distribution and "enforcement".

Read this and weep. 
www.modbee.com/local/story/648161.html

A Modesto police officer had to pull his gun to keep a hostile crowd at bay early Sunday.

The officer sustained minor injuries in the southwest Modesto incident, said police spokesman Sgt. Brian Findlen. Police are not releasing the officer's name. The officer's dog was assaulted but not seriously injured, Findlen said. Police arrested several suspects in connection with the incident. A loaded assault rifle was found later at the scene of the struggle, which unfolded about 2 a.m.

Findlen said the officer pulled his gun only after other deterrents, including his police dog, failed to keep the crowd under control. "In a situation where you really feel that your life is in imminent danger, your options become very few," Findlen said.

Some members of the crowd told the officer that "he was not going to leave the scene alive," according to police.

The crowd of as many as 60 people included some known gang members, Findlen said. Police believe the group was gathered for a party in the 1700 block of Pelton Avenue. The officer happened upon the group when he was responding to another call in the area.

The officer saw several people assaulting one man, Findlen said. As the officer tried to break up the fight, the crowd's attention shifted from the assault victim to the officer. The crowd surrounded the officer. The officer sent his dog into the crowd in an attempt to stop the group.

The dog apprehended one suspect, who police later identified as 18-year-old Alfredo Espinoza of Modesto. As the officer tried to arrest Espinoza, the crowd pulled Espinoza away from the officer.

According to police, some in the crowd then challenged the officer to a fight. One suspect attacked the officer, police said.

Officer's radio broken

The officer's two-way radio was broken during the struggle. The officer then used his gun to hold off the crowd as he tried to tell neighbors to call 911. Someone in the crowd had a police scanner, Findlen said, and told the rest of the crowd that other officers weren't responding to the scene. It was then that the officer was told he wouldn't be leaving the scene alive, according to police.

Backup units responded after calls from other residents.

Other officers responding to the scene stopped a vehicle and found Espinoza inside, Findlen said. The driver, 20-year-old Modesto resident Andrew Mitchell, and the passenger, 19-year-old Modesto resident Matthew Reyes, were arrested on suspicion of resisting and delaying a police officer, assaulting a police dog, and "lynching." Lynching is a law enforcement term that means forcibly removing a suspect -- in this case, Espinoza -- from police custody.

Two police scanners were found in the vehicle.

Two other suspects were arrested at the scene of the struggle. William Rodriguez, 29, of Modesto was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, false imprisonment of a police officer and lynching. Junior Suarez, 19, of Modesto was arrested on suspicion of resisting and delaying a police officer and lynching.

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Assault rifle found

Officers reportedly found a loaded assault rifle magazine near the scene of the assault.

During a follow-up investigation later Sunday morning, police said, officers found a loaded, banned assault rifle that police believe was used at the scene of the party. Gabriel Avila, 21, of Modesto was arrested on suspicion of possessing an assault rifle.

Detectives are continuing their investigation. Anyone with information is asked to called the Modesto Police Department at 572-9500 or Crime Stoppers at 521-4636. Tipsters also can text information to 274637. Type "TIP704" with your message.

I believe Modesto went to NO-BITE/bark only  dogs some 10 yrs ago. I suspect their K9 unit hasn't been very effective since.
SS

Good point Shelley.

If the dogs are NO BITE, I am sure the gangbangers/Mexican Mafia/cartel soldiers know all about it.

Maybe that encouraged them to locate in thug friendly Modesto.

Michele

Yikes.  Modesto used to be a town you drove through on your way to somewhere else because there wasn't much there besides farms.  Now it's grown, but I still drive straight through for a different reason...  Sad to go from a quiet farm town to a nest of drugs and crime.

Shelley, that's interesting.  I've never heard of a dept going to "No bite/bark only" patrol dogs.  I can see single purpose drug or bomb dogs, but can't see a patrol dog that is not trained to apprehend criminals.  I say this with the exception of bloodhounds who are used for tracking / trailing suspects.  According to their website, the Modesto PD K-9's are used for criminal apprehension, crowd control and officer safety.  So, I think something may have changed over the years.  Our dept no longer uses the "hold and Bark", we now use a "bite and hold."  We no longer even train the hold and bark.  If I deploy my dog it is with a "packen" command.  If I don't want my  dog to bite someone, I don't deploy him or I can call him back or platz him. 

I've been in situations with some very hostile crowds, assaults, homicides (even where the victim(s)  weren't dead yet), taken subjects into custody with large crowds and it's no fun.  I've been in crowds that were so loud that I couldn't be heard over my radio to request backup.  I can tell you one thing; there's nothing like the sound of a crown vic's engine coming down the street when you need back up.  The crown vic has a very distinctive sound that every cop knows.  It is music to your ears, you know the calvary is on it's way.  I'm glad that officer and his K-9 partner are going to be ok. 

Best wishes to that officer and the Modeto PD.  Now, they need to go and increase patrols in that area and send a new message to those thugs.  They need to take those streets back from the dope dealers and gang bangers.  If these guys will do this to a cop no one in that neighborhood is safe.

JMO,

Jim

One of the guys I went through the academy with is an officer with Modesto PD. I saw him at the funeral of another one of our classmates last year. Modesto is a wild city for sure. I don't know what it is like in the rest of the country, but in northern and central CA, cops are dying every few months. It is really getting bad out here.

I work in an environment where we are constantly surrounded by a large number of civilians when we contact people. We always have to be aware of what is going on around us. 99% of the time people stay out of it or are supportive, but that every once in awhile a group starts getting rowdy, we get vastly outnumbered quickly. Most of the fights we respond to involve more than 2 people. Definatley gets you a little nervous. 

Not too long ago, I chased  two robbery suspects through an alley and into a very bad apartment complex. It was raining and I rounded a corner and slipped on wet concret. Found myself on the ground injured. Next thing I know, an apartment door opens and I have 5 people standing around me. Not a good feeling. Jim is so right when he says there is no sweeter music to a cops ears than the sound of a wailing siren and a revving Crown Vic engine when you need it.

I'll bet that dog got a nice steak dinner that night.