Three from Lake County's gang member list have been arrested

Three down, 10 to go.

The intensified effort to locate and arrest the "worst of the worst" gang members in Lake County unveiled two weeks ago has already borne fruit, officials said Monday.

Three men on the "10 Most Wanted" list in Lake County have been arrested, and three other fugitives have been promoted to the list to take their place.

Derek Gordon, 29, of Waukegan and William Gist, 26, of Beach Park were arrested on state charges, and the cases against them are being reviewed for upgrade to the federal system.

The publicity surrounding the March 24 publication of the list prompted a third wanted man, Cordale Handy, 20, of Waukegan, to turn himself in without the intervention of police.

"I think we are seeing the good that can come from making our case to the public," Sheriff Mark Curran said. "The better we make it known that we want these people off the streets, the more information we get from people who also want these people off the streets."

Gordon is charged with selling drugs near a school, and Gist is wanted in connection with a brawl that sent a victim to the hospital. Handy is charged in a North Chicago carjacking.

All three suspects have gang affiliations, officials said.

"The gangs fuel all of this activity," Waukegan Police Chief William Biang said. "Everyone we take in gives us another one to concentrate on."

Officials say there are more than 2,000 gang members operating in the county.

With the three taken off the list, officials promoted three more to "call us and we will come and get them" status.

Darryl Mitchell, 31, and Dion Edwards, 29, both of Waukegan are wanted on drug dealing charges, while Adrin Rivera, 27, is charged with aggravated battery.

The effort is fueled by an $846,000 grant to combat gang crime secured for the county by U.S. Rep Mark Kirk, who said Monday the cases against all people will be reviewed by federal sources.

"The tips we got from the public resulted in the arrest of these people," Kirk said. "We hope to get these cases transferred to the federal system, where the penalties are much more severe."