In Wake of Shootings, Increased Police Patrols Sunday Nab Alleged Gang Members, Handguns, Loaded AK-47

Pasadena police officers arrested seven more suspected gang members in two traffic stops Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning, after a series of shooting incidents in the city that have left two people dead and three others wounded.

In each traffic stops, officers from the Pasadena police patrol and Special Enforcement Section officers found a loaded AK-47 assault rifle and at least one handgun.

Pasadena police Lt. John Mercado said the first traffic stop occurred in the 400 block of North Los Robles Avenue at about 4:40 p.m. Sunday.

“Special Enforcement officers were doing gang suppression behind the recent spate of shootings and murders, when they stopped a vehicle that fit the description of a vehicle that was used in a shooting in Duarte yesterday,” Mercado said. “They saw a handgun lying on the driver’s floorboard of the car. They searched the vehicle and also recovered a loaded assault rifle in the trunk of the car.”

Mercado was referring to an incident in Duarte in which two men, estimated to be in their 20s or 30s, were injured when a gunman shot at them at about 2:50 p.m. Saturday, a report from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. The gunman had fled the scene before authorities arrived.

Mercado said all three of the individuals in the car stopped in Pasadena have been arrested for gang membership while possessing illegal firearms.

The suspects were identified as Richard Toney, 26, from Duarte; Marcet Momon, 32, from Pasadena; and Kaquann Offutt, 27, also from Pasadena.

The other traffic stop occurred in the area of Sunset Avenue and Washington Blvd. in Pasadena early Monday.

Lt. Pete Hettema, Watch Commander, said officers stopped a car for traffic violation near Kings Villages apartments at about 2:11 a.m. today after spotting four men in the vehicle.

“The car initially stopped, but then took off again,” Hettema said. “The chase took a very short distance, and then they pulled into a parking lot. When the officers checked the vehicle, they found another AK-47 loaded.”

Hettema said the officers arrested four men, identified as Randy Broadmax, 29; Marvin Evans, 30; Derek Brown, 31; and Dwayne Ellis, 32. All of the suspects are Pasadena residents, Hettema said.

The suspects were charged with gun possession and gang membership, officers said.

Two City Councilmembers have reacted strongly to the spate of violence, especially the incidents Friday and Saturday where mourners who were holding vigils for victims killed in previous violent incidents were shot at.

City Councilmember John Kennedy said the incidents indicate “a community tragedy,” and Councilmember Victor Gordo called for more police patrols in the city.

On Friday night, two men died and two more were injured in a drive-by attack on a group of mourners in the 70 block of Pepper Street. Police said the assailants used an automatic rifle in the crime, spraying as many as 15 rounds into the group.

On Saturday, at a vigil for Friday’s dead, another drive-by shooting resulted in the wounding of a young man with a non-threatening gunshot injury to his upper leg.

Police immediately added heavy patrols by Special Enforcement Section officers in a proactive stance to arrest the perpetrators.