A tagging crew suspected of vandalizing a Metro bus and Blue Line train following last year's Lakers championship was targeted by authorities in Los Angeles and Riverside counties this week. Thirty-one warrants were served and 15 arrests were made, although sheriff's Lt. Erik Ruble of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Transit Services Bureau told LA Weekly charges were expected to be recommended against all 31 targets.

The crew, called Out Causing Panic, or OCP, has also struck in San Diego and San Bernardino counties, Ruble said. The group, which Ruble described as a “criminal street gang,” has been around for about 10 years, and its members range in age from 16 to 30. Investigators have been looking into the organization for a year.

He says that although “they came to our attention after last year's Lakers disturbance,” this week's bust was not timed to prevent more artistic havoc: “Believe it our not we scheduled this several months ago, when we had no idea the Lakers would continue to win,” he said. “It was coincidental.”

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