Charges Filed On Carjacking Suspect

LONG BEACH — On Feb. 11, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed one count of attempted felony carjacking on 30-year-old Long Beach resident Raymond Moreno, a convicted felon on the Post Release Community Supervision, PRCS, program.

In 2011, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed Assembly Bill 109 and AB 117, legislation to enable California to close the revolving door of low-level inmates cycling in and out of state prisons.  The realignment included the PRCS program, a county-level supervision for current non-violent and non-serious offenders, upon release from prison.

Under AB 109, Moreno was placed on PRCS in 2011, after being convicted on charges of an ex-felon carrying a firearm with a gang enhancement, which was considered to be non-violent or non-serious in nature.  On Jan. 2, Moreno was arrested in Long Beach, and later convicted on charges including violation of a gang injunction, ex-felon with possession of a loaded firearm, burglary tools, and drug paraphernalia.  Moreno was sentenced to 180 days in Jail and was released on Feb. 8, 2014, after serving 37 days.

On Feb. 9, the day after Moreno was released, he approached an unsuspecting victim sitting in their vehicle at 15th Street and Chestnut Avenue in Long Beach.  Moreno attempted to take the vehicle by force, inciting intimidation and fear in the victim.  The victim retreated from Moreno, with his vehicle, and called police. Officers swiftly located Moreno at the 1600 block of Cedar Avenue and arrested him.  If Moreno is convicted, it will be his second strike as a violent offender. Moreno is being held at Los Angeles County Jail on $160,000 Bail.

In 2013, the Long Beach Police Department created an “AB 109 Team,” to monitor individuals on PRCS within the city.  In 2013, the team made 854 arrests for PRCS violations.  Below is a breakdown of PRCS arrests made by Long Beach Police in 2013.

·        (2)       Murder
·        (10)     Assault with a Deadly Weapon
·        (18)     Robbery
·        (23)     Weapons Violations
·        (44)     Residential/Auto Burglary
·        (198)   Narcotic Violations
·        (8)       Gang Injunction Violations
·        (396)   PRCS Violations

Of those arrests, 85 offenders had been arrested over 3 times in Long Beach, 14 of them not are residents of the city.  About 6 percent of all 2013 PRCS arrests made in Los Angeles County were in Long Beach.