Tributes Pour in for Hells Angels MC Member

Wallsend, Newcastle, England (April 25, 2025) - A South Shields mum has paid a devastating tribute to her husband, Chris Brown, 37, who tragically died following a motorcycle crash on Stephenson Street in Wallsend on April 7, 2025.

Chris, a father of two and supervisor at Smulders, suffered critical injuries when his Harley-Davidson collided with a van. Despite being rushed to the RVI by air ambulance, Chris passed away three days later. 

 

Image: Northumbria Police

His wife Stacey, speaking with deep emotion, said: “Our kids are not going to see their king again. It broke me in two.” Chris, a proud member of the Hells Angels, was described as “a proper, genuine, nice person” and “a family man who would do anything for anyone.” His passing has shaken the South Tyneside community, with Stacey adding: “Anybody who met him loved him.”

She added: “My brother worked with Chris and was the first on the scene because he was travelling just behind him in the car. “When I got the call from my brother, I knew that something that happened to Chris and my heart just sank. I could tell that it was bad.

“Chris was a very experienced rider – he had ridden bikes since he was around seven years old. You’d never expect something like this to happen to someone who’s so experienced. “He used to have sports bikes when he was younger but as he got older, he got into Harleys and that’s when he joined the Hells Angels.”

In his memory, Stacey is taking on the Three Peaks Challenge on June 21 – the Summer Solstice – a dream they once shared together. Over £13,000 has already been raised for Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Charity through a fundraiser Stacey launched in Chris’s honour.

Chris’s funeral will take place on May 10, 2025 with more than 600 bikes expected to join in tribute. “Please remember to hold your loved ones close,” Stacey says. “You never know what’s around the corner.” A fundraiser has been set up at: gofundme.com/f/chris-last-hike

Outlaws Motorcycle Club Member Arrested

St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (April 25, 2025) - A major drug trafficking investigation has led to the seizure of over 100 kilograms of suspected cocaine and the arrest of four individuals, including a full-patch member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. The three-month investigation, launched in January by the OPP-led Biker Enforcement Unit, focused on suspected drug trafficking by outlaw motorcycle gang members in St. Catharines.

 

With support from Niagara Regional Police, York Regional Police, and Halton Regional Police, the probe uncovered a trafficking network moving cocaine from the Greater Toronto Area to Nova Scotia. On April 4, 2025, police executed a search warrant at a home in Richmond Hill, seizing approximately 101 kilograms of suspected cocaine and more than $215,000 in cash.

Additional warrants executed the same day at two St. Catharines residences uncovered oxycodone tablets, five ounces of suspected cocaine, a money counter, and more Canadian currency.

Four individuals from St. Catharines now face a total of eight drug trafficking-related charges.

Randy Mcgean, Sherry Stillwell, and Cody Soulliere, all residents of St. Catharines, have each been charged with:

 
1. Possession of proceeds of crime 

2. Possession for the purpose of trafficking – cocaine

David Crothers of St. Catharines was arrested and charged with:

 
1. Possession of proceeds of crime 

2. Possession for the purpose of trafficking – cocaine

The estimated street value of the drugs seized is $10.1 million.

Source: Toronto Sun

Co-owner of Poopy's biker bar murdered

Savanna, Illinois, USA (April 23, 2025) - Police in Clinton, Iowa, identified Shelly Leab, co-owner of Poopy’s, the “biggest biker bar in Illinois as the victim in a murder-suicide on Friday. Authorities said Brian Witherspoon, 57, shot Shelly Leab, 52, and then himself. 

Source: Facebook 

The pair was found during a welfare check at a home on Pershing Boulevard, around 12:30 p.m. The family said Leab’s body was found in the home along with her ex-fiancé.

The Iowa medical examiner performed autopsies Monday and said Leab died from multiple gunshot wounds and ruled her death a homicide. Witherspoon died from a single gunshot wound. His death was ruled a suicide.

Hell Angels MC San Jose

 

Black and White photo of San Jose Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

No date listed

Alleged Mongols MC Member Charged with Murder

San Bernardino County, California, USA (April 16, 2025) - A alleged member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club was charged Tuesday with murdering a member of the Vagos Motorcycle Club in what federal prosecutors say is an escalating conflict between the two Motorcycle Clubs.

Julian Pulido allegedly shot to death Vicente Sandoval on March 4th at the Firewater Bar in Ontario, according to a complaint unsealed Tuesday and San Bernardino County coroner’s records. A second alleged Mongols MC member, Clifford Lavoy, is accused of choking Sandoval before he was killed. Lavoy pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of assault in aid of racketeering and is being jailed without bond.

 

Sandoval’s killing was the latest flame up in a three-year conflict between the Mongols and the Vagos that, according to court records, included a shooting at a Hooters restaurant, a brawl at a Harley-Davidson store in Marina del Rey and a homicide allegedly committed by a paraplegic Vagos MC member who rode a three-wheeled motorcycle.

The officer wrote in the complaint that Mongols leaders maintain an “arsenal” of assault rifles, handguns, shotguns, knives and bulletproof vests in their downtown Los Angeles headquarters. The Mongols allegedly kept the cache of weapons to use against rivals, including the Hells Angels, Outlaws, Sons of Silence and Vagos.

Prosecutors trace the Mongols’ conflict with the Vagos to December 19, 2021, when the latter club held a memorial for a dead member at a Hooters in Riverside. Some Mongols showed up and a fight broke out, the officer wrote. Shooting erupted from both sides. By the time Riverside police arrived, everyone had fled — but blood on the ground indicated someone had been wounded, the complaint says.

Street gatherings continued

 

Black and White photo of various motorcycle during an event 

Vice President of Bikers Against Child Abuse Arrested

Buffalo, New York, USA (April 11, 2025) - The vice president of the Buffalo chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) was arrested Wednesday for sex crimes against children, according to New York State Police. John Todaro, 49, of Amherst, was allegedly found to be in possession of child pornography following an Internet Crimes Against Children investigation. He was also disseminating child pornography, officials said.

 

Police said Todaro would have had opportunities to be around children in his role. The BACA website says at least two members must be present to meet with a child to protect against accusations of child abuse. Background checks are necessary to become members. Todaro was charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing a sexual performance by a child.



The Buffalo chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse said in a statement it is "deeply troubled" by the charges. "The reported actions represent a serious breach of the values and mission we uphold. Such behavior is unacceptable to our organization and stands in direct violation of our strict code of conduct." the chapter said in a statement. "Upon learning of the allegations, our leadership took immediate and decisive action to permanently remove the individual from our organization."

He was released on his own recognizance and is expected back in court in May.

Outlaws Motorcycle Club Member Sentenced

Naples, Maine​, USA (April 10, 2025) - A judge in a Cumberland County court sentenced a Portland tattoo shop owner to 15 years, with all but 5 suspended, for last summer's fatal shooting of Susan McHugh. Aaron Karp will spend 5 years in state prison with 4 years probation after agreeing to plead guilty to a lesser manslaughter charge.

Karp originally faced an intentional or knowing murder charge. According to the judge's decision Thursday morning, if Karp misbehaves, breaks a no contact order or violates his probation he will serve the full 15 years.

 

Last July, 48-year-old Karp shot and killed 54-year-old McHugh during what police and prosecutors say was a brawl and shootout involving rival motorcycle clubs. The violence broke out near Morrill's Corner in Portland at 1155 Forest Ave., across the street from Almost Famous Tattoos & Piercings, which Karp owns. His defense had argued in previous hearings that Karp was firing in self defense.

RELATED | Outlaws MC member charged in deadly shooting

Eighteen gunshots can be heard in surveillance video near the shooting, and people can be seen scurrying for cover. Three others were shot and injured that day. Karp, who turned himself in to police on August 2, is one of seven defendants connected to this case.



The other six defendants — Caleb Pelkey, Kaleb Cidre, James Moody, Nathan Walsh, Kristofer Haken and Jason Kennan — face elevated aggravated assault charges and will all be tried together. A judge agreed to a joinder request in March after attorneys argued that holding six separate trials over many months would lead to "lots of logistical issues."

Hells Angels Motorcycle Club Prospect Arrested

Kelowna, BC, Canada (April 9, 2025) - A one-time prospect of the Kelowna Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was arrested earlier this month on an outstanding assault warrant out of Ontario. In a press release Wednesday morning, the BC RCMP said 36-year-old Colin Bayley was arrested by the Kelowna RCMP on April 1. Bayley was wanted on an Ontario warrant for an alleged assault and he was returned to Ontario on April 5. The Kelowna RCMP collaborated with the BC RCMP Fugitive Return Program in finding Bayley.

 

While the RCMP did not provide details about the allegations against Bayley, the arrest was made in partnership with the Niagara Police Service Human Trafficking Unit and the Ontario Provincial Human Trafficking Prosecution Team. “The BC Fugitive Return Program appreciates the consideration and efforts of all the police and partner agencies involved to coordinate and apprehend this offender to face his charges,” said Staff Sgt. Kris Clark of the BC RCMP. “His arrest and return were seamless and great work by all agencies involved."

RELATED | Hells Angels MC Clubhouses Seized by Court

Bayley was previously sentenced in Kelowna to nine months of jail for an aggravated assault inside the old Doc Willoughby's Pub in May of 2019. During his sentencing, surveillance footage from inside the downtown Kelowna bar showed Bayley repeatedly punching a man at a table, even after the man was clearly unconscious. He then dragged the man outside the front door of the pub and left him on the sidewalk, before walking back into the bar. "It was like you were just throwing a piece of meat onto the street,” said Justice Gary Weatherill after viewing the footage.

While Bayley and the victim had not met prior to that night, Bayley's lawyer said the altercation began after the victim had said something about Bayley's infant daughter. Bayley had been wearing a distinctive black vest with a red “British Columbia” patch on it, which Crown prosecutor Erin Miller said identified Bayley as a prospective member of the Hells Angels.

As part of the police investigation into the assault, officers raided the former Kelowna Hells Angels clubhouse, which has now been demolished. Miller said Bayley's affiliation with the Hells Angels influenced some witnesses' willingness to cooperate with the prosecution. The status of Bayley's affiliation with the Hells Angels was not mentioned during his sentencing back in 2021.

SOURCE: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Biker caught on video in highway drive-by shooting

Tampa, Florida, USA (April 8, 2025) - Troopers are searching for a motorcyclist who fired several shots at a vehicle on westbound I-4 early Sunday morning. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 34-year-old St. Petersburg man was traveling on I-4 in Tampa around 2:28 a.m. when he spotted several motorcyclists driving erratically with another vehicle west on I-275.

 

When the man began filming the motorcyclists with his phone, one of the motorcyclists rode up next to his car and discharged several rounds from a handgun, troopers said. While several rounds struck the man’s Honda CR-V, he was not injured.



The suspected shooter is described as a white man with a medium build. He was wearing a jacket with the “Outlaws MC” logo, referring to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Former Hells Angels MC clubhouse listed for sale

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (January 21, 2025) - Public Safety Minister Garry Begg says the province has listed the former clubhouse of the Vancouver Hells Angels Motorcycle Club for sale. The former clubhouse, located at 3598 East Georgia Street, was assessed at $1.58 million as of July 1, 2024, which is about $66,000 from when the property was first forfeited to the province.

 

This marks the first of three seized Hells Angels MC properties to be made available for commercial sale and "a further step in undercutting organized crime in British Columbia," Begg said in a news release Monday, January 20, 2025.

Related | Hells Angels MC Clubhouses Seized by Court

The house sits on a corner lot that is 10 metres (33 feet) by 33 metres (109 feet) long. The listing says the two-story house has about 2200 square feet of floor space with five bedrooms and three baths. The property was seized by the government, along with two other clubhouses in Nanaimo and Kelowna, after a 16-year court battle over whether the sites had been used to commit crimes.



The province finally won in 2023. He said the sale “when completed, will include a right of entry, a legal tool authorizing the Civil Forfeiture Office to take the property back if it is ever acquired and used by organized crime in the future.”

The former clubhouse is listed at REALTOR.CO 3598 East Georgia

Motorcycle Clubs Continued 1-15-25

 

Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club, Canada, circa 1967

Trial for Cossacks MC Prez continues

Tyler, Texas, USA (January 15, 2025) - The second trial for the National President of a Motorcycle Club accused of making orders that led to an East Texas motorcyclist’s death continues.

 

Kevin Higgins is charged with directing activities in connection with the May 2, 2020 death of Brandon Edwards, a member of the 1%er Cossacks MC, who was allegedly chased and shot by Cossacks MC members in the Chapel Hill area. In December, the previous trial ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury.

RELATED | Cossacks MC Member Acquitted 

Higgins maintains his innocence and entered a plea of not guilty. The state argues his role as the National President links him to a string of criminal activities including aggravated assault and murder.



Colorado Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Douglas Pearson said there was a split in the Cossacks Motorcycle Club after the 2015 Waco massacre. The two groups that emerged were the Cossacks MC and the 1%er Cossacks MC.

Police Raid Hells Angels MC Clubhouse

Trois-Rivières, Quebec (January 11, 2025) - A Hells Angels MC clubhouse was the target of a major police operation in Hérouxville, Mauricie. Around 90 police officers were mobilized Friday evening for a raid targeting violent crimes and drug trafficking. The searches are related to various events in recent weeks and months, such as shootings on Rang St-Pierre in Hérouxville.

Police found 16 people at the scene, including an armed 67-year-old man who was arrested. He was held in custody pending his scheduled appearance at the Shawinigan courthouse on Saturday. Police searched three vehicles and the entire property, consisting mainly of two buildings. They allegedly seized a rifle, firearm ammunition, methamphetamine tablets, clothing and jewelry with the HAMC branding along with Hells Angels patched jackets.

 

Those apprehended at the scene are all men aged between 27 and 71. They are “members in good standing” of the Trois-Rivières Hells Angels, as well as “prospects” and members of Hells Angels support clubs. A spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), Éloïse Cossette, stressed that the Mauricie region is not immune from violence and drug trafficking.

“The goal of the investigation is to put an end to the activities of people who engage in acts of violence,” she said. Friday's searches are believed to be linked to several violent episodes during which gunshots and bangs were heard on Rang Saint-Pierre, in Hérouxville, in December 2023, September 2024 and at the beginning of 2025.

The operation involved officers from the Mauricie Regional Joint Task Force (ER), the National Organized Crime Enforcement Team (ENRCO), the Organized Crime Intervention Team (OCIT), intelligence officers, crime scene technicians, firearms specialists, dog handlers and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) Emergency Response Team (ERT).

Couple of lawsuits settled in Pagan's and cops brawl

Pittsburgh, PA, USA (January 9, 2025) - The City of Pittsburgh will pay over $170,000 to settle two of four lawsuits from a brawl at Kopy’s bar six years ago between members of the Pagan's Motorcycle Club and several drunk, undercover police officers. 

 

Screenshot of video taken from Kopy's bar on October 12, 2018

The lawsuits include allegations of malicious prosecution and assault and battery, as well as civil rights claims based on the city’s alcohol policy that allowed undercover officers to drink on the job.

The incident began around 12:30 a.m. on October 12, 2018. Earlier that night, four undercover Pittsburgh police officers investigating drug activity entered the Kopy's bar, identified themselves as construction workers and began drinking. Four members of the Pagan's MC, arrived about 11:30 p.m. Within an hour, a brawl had erupted, and the four Pagan's MC members were arrested.

Related | Pagans MC Lawsuit Against Drunk Cops Goes to Trial

The four Pagan's MC members were charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy and riot. The undercover officers, David Honick, Brian Burgunder, Brian Martin and David Lincoln, were supposedly investigating a drug complaint at Kopy's bar the night of the brawl.



According to city’s lawyer's, the officers knew the Pagan's MC members to carry weapons, and they believed that their undercover status had been compromised by the four bikers. According to an affidavit by Stephen Kopy, the now-deceased owner of the bar, the officers told him that night they had issues with the Pagan's MC.

“I was then asked by one of the undercover officers whether I was ‘siding’ with the bikers,” Kopy wrote in the affidavit. “I told them that I was not ‘siding’ with the bikers. I just did not agree with the undercover officers that the bikers were trying to cause trouble.” As the Pagan's MC members got up to leave, he continued, the officers stopped them and spoke with them. 

Related | Bar Owner Sues City And Cops

But his lawsuit said that the officers, who were visibly intoxicated, impeded his exit from the bar, with David Honick repeatedly showing him his loaded handgun in the front band of his pants, not revealing that he or any of the others was a police officer. About a month later, the criminal charges were dropped by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s. The officers were ultimately suspended for five days without pay and reassigned. 

Motorcycle Clubs Continued 1-7-25

Members of two Motorcycle Clubs embrace as a show of Brotherhood, date unknown

Ex Hells Angels MC freed from prison

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (January 7, 2025) - In a decision made on Friday, the Parole Board of Canada reinstated Jacques Pelletier’s full parole. The 69-year-old former Hells Angel MC member is serving the life sentence he received in 1986 for his role in the first-degree murders of fellow club members in Lennoxville, carried out inside what was then a bunker used by the club’s Sherbrooke chapter. The slaughter, which came to be known as the Lennoxville Purge.

The ambush was planned by leaders of the Hells Angels MC based in Quebec who felt the club’s Laval chapter had become undisciplined when it came to drug trafficking and that this caused problems with other criminal organizations, including the West End Gang, who supplied them with drugs like cocaine.

 

On March 24, 1985, five Laval Hells Angels MC members were shot to death after they were summoned to a Hells Angels clubhouse in Lennoxville, just outside Sherbrooke. Several Hells Angels MC members were present that day and played a role in the slaughter, but only four, including Pelletier, were convicted of first-degree murder and received life sentences.

Pelletier was granted full parole in 2013, but the release was suspended five times since for different reasons. For example, in October 2017 he was returned to a penitentiary after police noticed his motorcycle parked outside a strip club frequented by known criminals.

 

An undated photo of the Laval chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

Most recently, his parole was suspended following a collision on October 4. During Pelletier’s hearing on Friday, the parole board members who heard his case were presented with different versions of what actually occurred, including Pelletier’s, and determined they did not have enough information to keep him inside the federal penitentiary where he spent the past three months.

According to a written summary of the decision made last week, Pelletier’s parole was suspended following a collision with another vehicle on October 4 and after he refused to submit to a breathalyzer test.

Outlaws MC club member pleads guilty

Buffalo, New York, USA (January 2, 2025) - An Outlaws MC club member who pleaded guilty to a gun charge has already been in jail for a portion of what federal guidelines suggest for a sentence. Scott Barnes, whom prosecutors have described as a national enforcer for the Outlaws, has been in jail since December 2023.

Federal agents on December 7, 2023, executed a search warrant at the 400 block of Northumberland Avenue, Buffalo, New York. Scott had been living in the upper portion of the building for several weeks before law enforcement searched it.

 

During the search, agents recovered a .40 caliber Glock handgun loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition on an end table near his sleeping area with other personal items. The firearm was reported stolen in 2013 by its owner.

Scott was among nine defendants named in the Pharaoh’s witness retaliation indictment. But his charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and also possessing a stolen Glock .40-caliber pistol were not related to the alleged retaliation against Crystal Quinn, 37, a former exotic dancer who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2023.

Among the other defendants in the retaliation case are four people accused of participating in a witness-tampering and retaliation conspiracy targeting Quinn. At the time of her death, Quinn had entered into a formal cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors to testify in Gerace’s bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking trial.