Three fugitive gang members arrested in Cloverdale

Three juvenile offenders who escaped from a Del Norte County boy’s ranch were arrested near Cloverdale on Saturday morning after a CHP officer investigating a speeding car discovered it had been carjacked and the victim, a Humboldt County man, was being held inside.

The suspects, all 17-year-old gang members, reportedly were headed to Vallejo when they were observed in a Honda CRV traveling in excess of 80 mph on Highway 101 near the Dutcher Creek Road exit shortly before 9:30 a.m. Saturday, CHP Sgt. Dave Derczo said.

CHP Officer Daniel Alconcel stopped the speeding car and ushered it off the highway, where he noticed that the young driver and two of the three passengers were all wearing the same clothing: gray sweatshirts and blue jeans, Derczo said. All were heavily tattooed, as well.

The driver could not produce a license, and none of those inside was forthcoming about who they were, where they were going or where they’d come from, Derczo said.

Alconcel also noticed a broken rear window and shattered glass near the third passenger, who was seated in the right rear of the car. The 28-year-old Redway man was asked to exit the car and was questioned, Derczo said.

He told Alconcel he had been driving north to visit family in Oregon when he’d grown tired near Cave Junction and had pulled over to sleep at a rest stop, Derczo said.

At some point early Saturday, he was awakened by strangers knocking on his window, and he told them to go away.

But a while later, they returned with an aluminum baseball bat, broke in the back window, and told him they would hurt him unless he cooperated, Derczo said.

It turned out the three youths had been in custody at a minimum security county probation camp called Bar-O Boys Ranch off Highway 199 in Gasquet, where they’d been since December, he said.

They apparently reached the Cave Junction rest stop off the same highway on foot, then headed south with their victim in the backseat.

The three teens were arrested for suspected carjacking/kidnapping, assault, conspiracy and auto theft, Derczo said. They are expected to be prosecuted locally, Derczo said. Their names were not released because they are minors.

The victim’s name was being withheld because of concerns for his safety, Derczo said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary?.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.