Nineteen people, including more than a dozen members of a Tolleson gang, have been arrested in connection with 34 home invasions in which the robbers impersonated police officers.
A 115-count grand-jury indictment outlines crimes ranging from theft, burglary and impersonating an officer to aggravated assault, armed robbery and kidnapping.
Four suspects are still at large.
“These defendants allegedly were responsible for a wave of home invasions and domestic terrorism that we are accustomed to seeing in foreign countries but not in our own,” Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Monday. “Such organized violent crime must draw a harsh response from law enforcement.”
Authorities believe robbers would storm into homes and claim to be the police, wearing police, FBI or DEA gear and uniforms. They carried handguns, assault rifles, grenades, shotguns and knives during the attacks, which were aimed at securing drugs, money and material possessions, according to police.
Ninteen arrested in connection with 34 home invasions.