Leaders of vicious Fresno gang indicted
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The leaders of vicious Fresno gang, known for raping, robbing, and committing home invasions, have been indicted.
The Fresno Police Department and the Fresno County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday that they had secured indictments on nine principal members of the "Fresneck" gang after a months-long investigation.
Buf if the name of the gang isn't familiar, you aren't alone. The Fresneck's have operated for more than two decades, mostly hidden from view.
Unlike some of Fresno's more notorious street gangs that are involved in shootouts and turf wars, this group targeted people they knew and scared them from testifying.
The group's secret lay in repeatedly kidnapping, robbing, and raping the same victims, then intimidating them so they wouldn't become a witness against the gang.
In January of this year, a victim who had been brutalized by the gang many times finally came forward.
"He finally got to a breaking point and had to report this to the police," said Fresno Poice Chief Jerry Dyer. He said the victim's testimony was crucial, "Had it not been for that, we would have continued to see this gang."
Police say the gang committed a cluster of crimes this January.
January is also when the gang's leader, Joie Carrell, was released from prison.
Carrell has now been indicted on new charges, along with eight other members of his gang.
Chief Dyer said the Fresneck gang is, "Now on the radar and they can no longer operate under the radar."
To secure the indictments, the Fresno County District Attorney's Office had to rely on a tactic rarely used; they took the case to a grand jury.
Detectives said that tactic allowed them to avoid going public with a preliminary hearing that may have scared witnesses from testifying.
Even so, many of the victims still had their lives threatened.
"The significance of this case is that we took away the anonymity of these individuals that were committing crimes behind the scenes."
In addition to the nine leaders of the gang indicted this month, 30 other members of the group were also arrested for various crimes.
