By John Asbury
Press-Enterprise
HEMET, Calif. — One of 23 people arrested during raids in Hemet last week is charged with belonging to a known skinhead gang and possessing the same type of weapon used in an attempt to kill officers, court records show.
In one case, prosecutors charged Patrick Nugent Jr. with six felonies, including membership in the COORS Family Skins and possession of a “zip gun,” an improvised single cartridge weapon usually triggered to fire by a crosshair or wire, according to a criminal complaint.
Hemet police discovered the zip gun April 20 as they raided 35 homes and arrested 23 people suspected of parole, weapons and drug violations during a search for evidence and suspects behind five possible attacks on Hemet police and the Gang Task Force.
Hemet police did not return calls last week to say whether the gun was the same as those used in an attack on officers. On Feb. 23, a zip gun, attached to the gate of the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley Gang Task Force office, fired and missed an officer opening the gate.
Attacks began New Year’s Eve, when the gas line at the Gang Task Force building was rerouted to trigger an explosion when someone walked inside. On March 5, a potentially deadly device was attached to an officer’s car, but fell off at a gas station parking lot.
The COORS gang named in charging documents, which stands for Comrades Of Our Racial Struggle, was targeted heavily by police last year, and detectives believed the gang was dismantled. Four gang members are on trial in the November 2008 beating of a Hispanic man in Hemet.
Riverside County prosecutors have charged seven of those arrested, but have not directly linked anyone to the attacks. No one has been injured in the attacks.
Also charged in the raids was Joseph Zito, 29, of Hemet, as a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He is jailed and bail is set at $1 million.
Zito previously had ties to a white supremacist group but his mother, Catherine Shirley, said he was not involved with the COORS or any other gang. She said he was in the process of getting swastika tattoos removed.
Shirley said FBI agents trashed her home as they burst in before dawn to arrest her son and confiscate several books, including a German Bible and his laptop. Shirley, who has multiple sclerosis, said she was bruised as she was handcuffed. She also said her family’s china collection was destroyed.
FBI officials said they were not aware of any damage, but they told the family they could file claims with the FBI legal department. Bureau spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the family did not report any injuries and the mother was detained as a security measure while agents searched the house, assisting the Gang Task Force.
“They stormed in full regalia and chopped open the back door, throwing bombs. I thought it was an earthquake,” Shirley said. “When you see what those people did to this house, it looks like Hurricane Katrina.”
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