A two-day U.S. Marshals Service operation spanning San Diego’s East County resulted in the arrests of 34 fugitives wanted on felony warrants, officials confirmed.
“Operation Heatwave” – a collaborative effort with U.S. Marshals as well as local, state and federal law enforcement agencies – wrapped up Thursday. Over the course of the sweep, officials made several significant arrests, including felons with violent criminal background and gang ties.
One of the people taken into custody was El Cajon resident Catalina Andrews, the mother of Don Andrea Torrillo, the inmate who escaped from San Diego Central Jail earlier this month under a different name and was later captured at an El Cajon motel.
Andrews allegedly assisted Torrillo while he was on the run and was charged with harboring a fugitive from justice, officials said.
Brenton Haligowski, a documented member of a local skinhead and white supremacist group, was also arrested at a trailer park in Lakeside during the operation. He was hiding in a bathroom with numerous syringes in his pockets at the time of his arrest, officials said, and appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
Joshua Gessl was also arrested at his home across the street from Lindo Park Elementary School in Lakeside for child cruelty. He’s currently being held at San Diego Central Jail on $210,000 bail.
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Beside the 34 arrests, officials said they also cleared 48 warrants and seized narcotics during Operation Heatwave. Numerous leads were also generated that will help in future fugitive investigations.
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Some of the agencies that participated in the sweep included the El Cajon Police Department, the La Mesa Police Department, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, among many, many others.
As one U.S. Marshals Service official noted, coordination was critical in the large-scale operation.
“Making sure all of the different agencies are together and show up at the same time [is important] and that we do our homework before we come out here to these addresses,” he said.
