Deputies Prevent L.A. Gang Members From Robbing Casino

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Kern County sheriff's deputies have arrested five people, two in connection with the robbery of Golden West Casino last September.

At least two of the men were arrested in connection with a 2007 robbery of Golden West Casino where robbers carried AK-47 assault weapons and handguns.

Deputies said they got word Sunday that gang members from Los Angeles were going to rob the casino again.

Overnight, members of the Kern County Sheriff's Department Gang Suppression Unit, SWAT, Narcotics and Special Operations Unit and with help from the California Highway Patrol used a spike strip to stop two cars, one of which was a stolen vehicle, along Highway 58 near Towerline Road.

They said they arrested five men from the Los Angeles area: Lynell Travon Lewis, 31, Michael Paul Johnson, John Fitzgerald Williams, 19, Jajuan Robert Bell, 29, and Dion Lavell Joseph, 24. Williams and Bell were charged with the 2007 robbery of Golden West Casino.

Officials said they found an AK-47, two sawed-off shotguns and a semi-automatic handgun in one of the vehicles.

Officials also said they believe lives were prevented from being lost in what would have been the second robbery on the same casino.

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