15 people arrested, including juveniles, after weekend MPD Operation

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Operation Saturday Night Live – that’s the name of the latest Memphis Police operation downtown over the weekend.

FOX13 has been working since early Sunday to get information about the effort.

Police confirmed Tuesday that 15 people were arrested, some of them juveniles.

Police also told FOX13 they were able to recover stolen guns, drugs, and vehicles.

Videos obtained by FOX13 show police swarming vehicles, arresting the people inside.

RELATED: SCSO responds to request for more downtown patrol

Videos also show groups of people, yelling at police, and cars getting towed away.

MPD Colonel Dennis McNeil said they identified stretches of B.B. King Boulevard as problem areas.

“If you plan to come downtown, and you’re a bad actor and you’re not in compliance with a city ordinance or state law, we’re going to address you,” he told FOX13.

FOX13 Investigates dug into some of the people arrested who have active warrants for violent offenses.

Police said Victor Thompson was behind the wheel of a car driving recklessly.

He has warrants for drugs and violating probation.

His passenger, Jeffrey Free, was arrested after police say he tried give them a false Social Security Number.

He had warrants for aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, and domestic violence.

McNeil said Operation Saturday Night Live has been going on since April, and there have been juveniles arrested.

“We got a lot of 15-year-olds, even young as 12-year-olds out after curfew hours. That’s a whole other issue of what we do with the juveniles we capture for curfew violations, breaking into vehicles, stealing vehicles? Why’s a juvenile out downtown after 10 o’clock?,” said McNeil.

In one instance, police said they were conducting traffic control at B.B. King Boulevard and Gayoso.

That’s when officers said two juveniles, ages 17 and 15, in a Cadillac CTS told officers, “We’re not doing anything…sike,” and accelerated away at an extremely high rate of speed.

MPD said the Cadillac returned to the area, and officers were able to stop the vehicle. The driver and passenger were detained.

McNeil said this is an ongoing operation that will continue in the downtown area for the foreseeable future.

He also advised that people with active warrants should turn themselves in.