Big Gang Sweep in Mid-Columbia Grabs 52 Wanted Suspects

Starting Tuesday of this last week,  law enforcement officers from Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, Benton and Franklin County conducted a widespread gang sweep, which proved to be very successful.

Much like 8 other sweeps since 2009,  authorities, acting on solid tips and leads, swoop in on unsuspecting suspects and arrest them.

Most recently, according to Kennewick Police Chief Ken Hohenberg,  in the Tri-Cities in the last year, some 161 shots have been fired by suspects in gang related activities.

This most recent sweep, which concluded Thursday,  resulted in 52 arrests,  30 in Pasco, 16 in Kennewick, and one each in Richland, Prosser, Benton County (Finley) and Benton City.

In addition, police achieved the following goals and targets:

10 people had new charges (drugs, Possession Drug Paraphernalia, one had a gun).
62-Felony warrants cleared.
46-Misdemeanor warrants cleared.

Since 2009, these sweeps have put a total of 328 suspects behind bars.