Out-of-town gangs come to La Crosse to make drug money, says county sheriff

You might not hear much about gang-related crime happening in the La Crosse area, but law enforcement pays attention to it. 

Sheriff Jeff Wolf tells the La Crosse County judicial committee that a lot of the drug-related crime occurring in the county is tied to gangs from bigger cities, coming to La Crosse to find drug customers.

In the 1990’s, area police had to deal with a series of violent confrontations, including gunfire, between rival Hmong youth gangs. 

Wolf says that doesn’t happen much any more in La Crosse County.  because those out-of-town gangs rarely fight with each other. But he says the appear to be gang-related.

The sheriff says Asian gangs from the Twin Cities and Wausau operate here, along with Latinos from Milwaukee and Minneapolis, and African-American gangs from as far away as Chicago and Toledo.

Wolf says local gang members tend to be white, and belong to “bike gangs.”