Orange County AB 109 Crime Impact Task Force nets over 400 arrests, dozens of firearm seizures over three year period

The results of a large scale task force operating in Orange County were announced by the county's District Attorney Thursday, reporting hundreds of arrests and dozens of firearms seized over a three-year span. 

AB 109 Task Force, an undercover effort including investigators, police officers and probation officers operating under the jurisdiction of Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, resulted in 567 arrests, including 10 attempted murder suspects and 38 stolen car suspects. They also seized a massive amount of narcotics, including enough fentanyl to kill hundreds of thousands of individuals and 55 firearms, six of which were considered to be assault weapons. 

"Hundreds of dangerous felons are off Orange County streets along with illegal drugs and guns as a result of the AB 109 Task Force," Spitzer said via statement on Thursday. "The ongoing efforts by the state Legislature to decriminalize felonies and release dangerous and violent felons back into our communities have forced local law enforcement to protect our residents from violent criminals who should have never been let out in the first place."

Notable suspects arrested as a part of the task force included Ike Souzer, the 18-year-old convict who escaped from a halfway house in April after being released from jail early who was convicted of killing his mother when he was 13 years old and Sandy Gonzalez, the woman originally wanted on a $100,000 warrant for both child abuse and endangerment after she held up a high-end shoe store in Fullerton at gunpoint. 

Additionally the task force put a stop to the "Durango Burglary Ring," which consisted of at least five men who conducted a large and nearly statewide burglary operation resulting in more than $1.9 million in stolen designer watches and purses, as well as guns and cash from more than 40 residential robberies. 

Spitzer created the task force in 2019 "in response to a state law which allows convicted felons felons to serve their time in local jails and then be supervised by local authorities after their release instead of state parole agents," as detailed by the statement.