5 gang members arrested in southeast Fresno bust

Police arrested five Bulldog gang members during a probation search in southeast Fresno on Sunday, the Fresno Police Department said.

Officers conducted the search at a house in the 4500 block of East McKenzie Avenue. Several of the gang members arrested were on parole.

Miguel Padilla, 41, of Fresno, was found in possession of three driver’s licenses that weren’t his, police say. At least one of the licenses was determined to be counterfeit. Padilla was also in possession of three credit cards from three different people, a stolen IRS refund check with a forged signature on the back and another IRS refund check found to be counterfeit.

Padilla claimed that he found all of the items inside of a wallet on Sunday, and he told police that he intended to return the items to their rightful owners, police say. Meanwhile, Padilla is connected to four theft cases in Fresno and one in Hanford.

Sunday’s bust resulted in Padilla being charged with 11 felonies and seven misdemeanors.

Jacob Ayala, 42, of Fresno, was charged with being in possession of ammunition while being a convicted felon, having a methamphetamine smoking pipe with narcotics inside and having hypodermic syringes.

Three other Bulldog gang members were also booked into Fresno County Jail on various charges, police say.

This story was originally published July 5, 2015 at 10:19 PM with the headline "5 gang members arrested in southeast Fresno bust."