Gang activity is showing up more every year in areas outside the major cities, authorities say. Some recent examples:
• Last summer, a Minnetonka gun store was burglarized and more than 50 guns were taken. According to the Metro Gang Strike Force, the suspects are members of a Somali gang and about 50 conspirators have been identified. The investigation has led to other criminal probes of Somali gang members in Faribault, Rochester, Hopkins and cities in between.
• In 2007, a federal indictment targeted the Tre Tre Crips gang in Faribault in a weapons and drug probe. Of 14 people charged, 10 have addresses in the town.
• "Wannabe" gang activities also are increasing. Last year, three teens who called themselves the "Spartans" terrorized a Coon Rapids neighborhood. They told police that loyalty and drug money were their motivation in a series of brutal beatings and robberies that left two people hospitalized. James Lewis, 18, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and another member of the trio is up for sentencing in June. Assistant County Attorney Nancy Norman said the three were "dabbling with the notion of being in a gang, robbing people for money for dope."
