56 arrested for violent crime, drugs as part of ‘Operation Washout,’ prosecutors say
As part of a three-week law enforcement operation, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday authorities arrested dozens of Kansas City area’s “most violent and persistent offenders” and seized multiple firearms and illegal drugs.
They called it “Operation Washout.”
Tim Garrison, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, said the operation came as part of the district’s renewed Project Safe Neighborhoods program.
“Operation Washout is one example of the strategies we are implementing to reduce violent crime and make every community safer — especially the neighborhoods hardest hit by violent crime,” Garrison said in a statement.
Fifty-six people were arrested during the three-week period on state and federal warrants for drug and violent crimes, including homicides.
Authorities also seized 10 handguns, two semi-automatic rifles, a shotgun, rounds of ammunition and illegal drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin, ecstasy and cocaine.
Among those arrested, at least one person has been charged.
Brandon L. Walton, 36, was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of assaulting or resisting a federal officer.
The story of his arrest and the charges against him was related in a news conference Wednesday afternoon at the office of the U.S. Attorney in downtown Kansas City.
Walton was arrested on Sept. 17, when he allegedly possessed two assault-style rifles and a semi-automatic handgun.
As a convicted felon, it was illegal for Walton to have the guns, prosecutors said.
Before his arrest, prosecutors said Walton tried to escape authorities in his vehicle and crashed into two vehicles driven by deputy U.S. marshals.
Walton has a criminal history dating back to 2001 and 2002 when he was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with a motor vehicle, according to Jackson County court records.
In 2005, he was charged by federal prosecutors with being a felon in possession of a firearm. A judge sentenced him in that case to seven years in prison.
As he neared the end of that sentence, Walton was moved to a halfway house in Kansas City in 2012. He walked away without permission and was charged with escape.
When U.S. Marshals tracked him down to arrest him on the escape charge, he had a .30-caliber carbine in his possession. He pleaded guilty to another charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.
Walton was released from custody in January, according to U.S. Bureau of Prisons records.
After his latest arrest in September, Walton has remained in custody.
Prosecutors said investigations were underway to determine if any charges will be filed against others arrested as a result of Operation Washout.
Operation Washout was carried out through the U.S. Marshals Service in collaboration with the Kansas City Police Department, Independence Police Department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This story was originally published October 3, 2018 at 5:38 PM.