Mongols MC affiliates crash going to national event

Amberley, New Zeland (September 15, 2023) - Two people affiliated with the Mongols MC crashed on their way to Christchurch for a planned event. Detective Inspector Joel Syme said police were aware of a planned event in Christchurch this weekend involving members and associates of the Mongols MC.

On Friday morning, police were called to a crash involving two motorcycles travelling to the event. The crash on State Highway 1, north of Amberley, was reported to Police at 11:25 AM. “Nobody was injured and the road was not blocked.”



Syme said additional police staff would be deployed in the city over the weekend to “closely monitor the behaviour” of those attending the event. “Our expectations around these types of events are very clear and I can assure the community that we will have resources in place to respond to reports of unlawful behaviour.

Hells Angels MC Banned from Ponde Compound

South Australia (September 14, 2023) - Hells Angels members will be barred from a regular meeting place after state parliament passed a law designating the property a prescribed place. The Ponde compound, about 100km east of Adelaide, was home to a rock music festival until 2002 but will now be off bounds to club members after the government's latest move to block its use by the bikie gang.

 

"We do not want to see outlaw motorcycle gangs getting a hold back in South Australia," Attorney-General Kyam Maher told reporters on Thursday. "We will do everything that is in our power to make South Australians safer and that includes changing the law very quickly when we need to."

The High Court in August invalidated an attempt by the previous Liberal government to ban the bikies from Ponde, but Mr Maher was adamant his law would face no such obstacles as it amended the legislation itself and was not just a regulation. "What we've done through the passage of this legislation in parliament, is to make it as bulletproof as possible," he said.



The declaration of the site as a prescribed place means any members of a listed criminal organisation cannot visit. But the Law Society of South Australia criticised the bill, arguing it was based on a flawed regime. In a submission to Mr Maher, the society's president James Marsh said the law increased the risk that individuals could have their property unjustly confiscated.

"The society queries the justification in abrogating any citizen's right to procedural fairness," he wrote. Mr Maher said the society's representations "fell on deaf ears." "We will do absolutely everything we can to make sure bikies have as little influence in this state as possible," he said.

In 2019, police found a burnt-out car on the property that had been linked to a bashing murder. At one stage the government tried to seize the land as a criminal asset but later dropped that bid.

Hells Angels MC member being released from prison

Quebec, Canada (September 14, 2023) - One of the most influential Hells Angels MC members in Quebec will be released from a federal penitentiary soon as he nears the statutory release date of the 14-year sentence he received as a result of his guilty pleas in two major investigations into the motorcycle club.

In a decision made earlier this week, the Parole Board of Canada ordered that Marvin (Casper) Ouimet, 54, be required to reside at a halfway house for six months after he reaches his statutory release date. The board imposed several other conditions of Ouimet’s release because he made it clear he is still a Hells Angel and will remain one when he is released.

 

In one case, Ouimet pleaded guilty in Operation SharQc, an investigation that in 2009 resulted in the roundup of almost every member of the Hells Angels MC in Quebec. The probe was based on the theory that almost every member of the club in Quebec was part of a conspiracy to murder rival members of criminal organizations in the province during a war over drug-trafficking turf that stretched from 1994 to 2002.

In the other case, Operation Diligence, Ouimet pleaded guilty to money laundering and other related charges. Ouimet admitted he invested $200,000 to purchase land in Lachute. The plan was to subdivide the land into 100 lots and build bungalows or semi-detached homes on them. Operation Diligence began after the owner of a family business that once replaced Montreal city hall’s copper roof alleged that Ouimet wanted to take control of his company and a masonry firm.

Ouimet’s attempt to take control of the company is mentioned in a written summary of the parole board’s decision.

“All your criminality has been committed for financial gain. You were convicted of being at the head of a network of money laundering and infiltration of the legal economy in the construction industry. Official information reports, among other things, false invoices, under the table payments, transfer of money to tax havens,” the parole board wrote. “The crimes were committed over a significant period of three years  and one of the victims declared having suffered intimidation when you took control of his company.”

Alleged Outcast MC member indicted

Atlanta, Georgia, USA (September 14, 2023) - Attorney General Chris Carr announced Wednesday that a Morrow, Georgia man has been indicted in Clayton County on charges of Trafficking of Persons for Servitude, Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, False Imprisonment, Aggravated Assault, Armed Robbery, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony.

 

“Across our state, gangs are actively engaged in human trafficking as a primary means to make money, and we are using all available resources to disrupt their operations and keep our people safe,” Carr said in a news release. “Whether a buyer or a seller, those who abuse and exploit another person will be met with the full force of the law. Our top priority is to protect our fellow Georgians, and that is exactly what we are doing.”

This case was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Gang Task Force, the GBI’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit, and the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

The Outcast Motorcycle Club is considered an Outlaw Motorcycle Club or a “One-Percenter” Motorcycle Club. The Outcast MC has around 67 chapters across the country, including four in Georgia. Founded in 1967 in Detroit, the second Outcast MC chapter was formed in Atlanta. Additional chapters are located in Augusta, Hawkinsville and Savannah.

In May, Carr’s Gang Prosecution Unit indicted 16 alleged members of the Southeast Georgia Chapter of the Outcast MC in Bryan County. This is considered the largest motorcycle club indictment in state history and its announcement followed the culmination of Operation Patronus, a multi-agency investigation targeting gangs and guns in southeast Georgia and beyond. This operation resulted in the recovery of approximately $180,000 in cash and the seizure of 71 guns, two motorcycles and two cars.


The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking and Gang Prosecution Units presented evidence to a Clayton County Grand Jury, resulting in the alleged member's indictment on August. 30. Specifically, he is facing the following charges:

— 5 counts of Trafficking of Persons for Servitude
— 10 counts of Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act
— 1 count of False Imprisonment
— 1 count of Aggravated Assault
— 1 count of Armed Robbery
— 1 count of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony.

Hells Angels MC prospect arrested after shooting

Newtonville, Ontario (September 12, 2023) - Two men, including a Hells Angels MC prospect, face numerous charges after a Clarington shooting led to the discovery of 13 guns. On September 9, a man drove to a home in Newtonville in a red Ford pick-up truck. 

The man fired a gun into the home striking a man inside. Durham Regional Police received reports of the shooting and responded to the scene. They found the victim who proved uncooperative with investigators.

 

The next day multiple police units including Guns and Gangs, Biker Enforcement and Tactical Support raided two homes and a car. They found 13 guns during the raids including a modified sub-machine gun, a pistol and silencer, several rifles and shotguns, two extended magazines and ammunition.



Police also arrested two men on multiple charges during the raid. Anthony Psilopoulos, 38 of Clarington, faces six charges including illicit possession and breaching release orders. Investigators say Psilopoulos is a Hells Angels MC prospect. Previous court records from 2019 indicate Psilopoulos ranked as a “hang-around” with the motorcycle club at the time. A prospect is a few ranks higher than a hang-around and one step below a fully patched member.

Additionally, Darryl Kerswell, 51 of Clarington faces five firearms-related offences including possession without a licence and careless storage. Police did not comment on whether the men were held for a bail hearing or released with conditions.

Bandidos MC hit with search warrants

Albuquerque, New Mexico (September 5, 2023) - FBI and New Mexico State Police SWAT teams launched early morning raids in towns across New Mexico, searching the homes of the 25 Bandidos MC members identified as having made “imminent threats” to kill or hurt rivals involved in the fatal shootings in May.

Evidence seized included more than 150 firearms, and three men were arrested on state charges as the investigation into possible racketeering and other crimes continues. New Mexico’s top law enforcement announced at a press conference they had a message for the estimated 75 or so Bandidos members in New Mexico whose properties weren’t searched.

“The motorcycle is a symbol of freedom, of individualism, and the open road,” said U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Alexander Uballez. “But today, a selfish few are trying to tell us who gets to enjoy our roads, what clothes they are required to wear, and with whom they can ride. The people of New Mexico have no more patience for violent bullies. Working together, the law enforcement agencies of New Mexico return the open road to the public who owns it.”

 

Raul Bujanda, FBI Special Agent in Charge for New Mexico, said the investigation will include tracing the firearms seized to determine if they have been involved in any unsolved homicides in the state. Looking out at an audience of state, federal, county sheriff and city law enforcement officers who helped conduct the searches, Bujanda said the violence that erupted at the annual motorcycle rally in Red River was “kind of a wake up call for everyone here.”

The events, which drew tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts, turned violent May 27 when members of the Bandidos MC surrounded members of the much smaller New Mexico based motorcycle club, the Water Dogs MC. Gunfire broke out, and three people were fatally shot, one member of the Water Dogs, and two Bandidos MC members. A total of eight people were shot, all members of the motorcycle clubs.

Prosecutors in Taos County dismissed murder charges temporarily against a Water Dogs MC member, who had been arrested after the shootings. The Water Dogs MC member reportedly claimed self-defense. The violence at the rally was linked in part to photos taken at a wedding that showed the president of the Water Dogs MC standing with at least one member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club. The Mongols have been trying to increase the club’s presence in New Mexico. Historically, the Bandidos have considered the state their territory.

According to a 145-page search warrant affidavit, some of confidential informants have reported that Bandidos leadership is “concerned the Bandidos MC look weak for having failed to avenge the shooting deaths of  two members during the weekend rally in Red River, N.M.”

“Based on my investigation, I believe members of the Bandidos MC are preparing to attack members of the Mongols MC and Water Dogs MC,” wrote FBI Special Agent Bryan Acee in the affidavit. He stated that the 25 Bandidos MC members targeted in Thursday’s searches “have been the most aggressive proponents of violent conflict.”

“Coupled with the fact those same Target Subjects are believed to be actively conducting reconnaissance on their rivals; acquiring and trafficking in firearms, encouraging others to join them in assaulting and killing rivals; and in possession of firearms, ammunition, and ballistic vests; I believe the requested search warrants will mitigate the current threat and result in the seizure of valuable evidence,” wrote Acee.

Acee’s affidavit described that to prepare for an attack some Bandidos MC members have been following Mongols MC members from their homes or work to ascertain their habits and where they live. They have been practicing shooting. The searches occurred in Albuquerque, Alamogordo, Farmington, Hobbs, Gallup, Capitan, Ruidoso, Rio Rancho, Los Lunas and several smaller communities.

Bujanda said the law enforcement intervention on Thursday won’t likely extinguish the bad blood between the Bandidos and their rivals. “It’s a turf war and they think this is their turf. Obviously it’s not.”

Suspected leader of Pagan's MC chapter sentenced

Providence, Rhode Island, USA (October 29, 2022) - The suspected leader of the Pagans Motorcycle Club in Rhode Island has been sentenced to serve 10 years in prison on illegal gun and drug charges. Deric “Tuna” McGuire, 38, of Burrillville, entered a plea of "nolo contendere" to multiple felony charges stemming from an investigation by the Rhode Island State Police in 2017 and 2018 into outlaw motorcycle gangs, known as “Operation Patched Out.”

McGuire will also forfeit $80,229 and six cars in connection to the “criminal activity.”

 

According to Attorney General Peter Neronha, McGuire participated in a “criminal enterprise involving illegal possession and distribution of narcotics, illegal possession and sale of firearms, and illegal possession and theft of stolen property.” On May 23, 2018, investigators executed multiple search warrants at locations in Burrillville, Woonsocket, and North Smithfield.

RELATED | Pagan's MC: Ruling could toss out evidence in case

From McGuire’s Burrillville home and a garage bay next to the Pagans clubhouse in Woonsocket, investigators seized roughly 327 grams of cocaine, about $29,800 in cash, and eight guns. McGuire was prohibited from purchasing the gun after being convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon in 2014.

State police said McGuire conspired to distribute significant amounts of cocaine and marijuana, sell firearms and to steal a Bobcat loader. He also conspired to provide a letter to the Rhode Island Parole Board stating that an incarcerated associate had secured employment in an effort to get him parole, state police said.



Additionally, he provided a false statement inflating his annual income in order to secure financing for the purchase of a motorcycle. In total, 61 people were arrested as a result of the investigation. Additionally, the defendant conspired to provide a letter to the Rhode Island Parole Board stating that an incarcerated associate had secured employment in an effort to convince the Parole Board to grant him parole.

Outlaws MC Member Accused of Fleeing Deputies

Daytona, Florida, USA (October 25, 2022) - A member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club faces seven charges after a deputy sheriff spotted him going over 100 miles per hour on a motorcycle in Flagler County after fleeing a traffic stop in Ormond Beach.

 

Among the new charges are two felony counts of fleeing and eluding with disregard of safety to persons or property. He’s also received seven traffic citations in connection to this incident, including reckless driving, failing to obey law enforcement and knowingly driving with a suspended license.

The Ormond Beach Police Department (OBPD) also filed fleeing and eluding charges against Wilson and his motorcycle was seized by FCSO.

With #Biketoberfest 2022 in full swing, we arrested a motorcycle gang member for speeding, a Palatka man who wrecked his vehicle while fleeing a traffic stop and a convicted felon with fentanyl in one of his socks.

MORE: https://t.co/aA69nea6DD#GotYa #FlaglerCounty #FCSO pic.twitter.com/uvzUSlg88W

— FlaglerSheriff (@FlaglerSheriff) October 18, 2022

Source: Flagler County Sheriff's Office

Pagan’s Motorcycle Club member charged with murder

Carolina, West Virginia USA (October 24, 2022) - A man who cops say is a member of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club has been charged with murder in connection to a shooting that happened last month in Marion County. It happened on Friday, September 9th, and deputies with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said in a criminal complaint that they believe 33-year-old John Wolfe “did plan and initiate the shooting death of Henry Silver.”

 

During the investigation, deputies determined that the victim “was engaging in a hidden relationship with Wolfe’s significant other,” and that Wolfe had learned of the relationship, deputies said. Prior to the incident, Wolfe “had a meeting” -- “with at least five other individuals where a statement indicates that Henry Silver was discussed,” and that “five of the people present at the meeting were wearing Pagan’s Motorcycle Club cuts upon arriving,” according to the complaint.

Sometime after, Silver “arrives at the apartment of Wolfe’s significant other not knowing that Wolfe was present,” and during that time “a verbal confrontation occurs and Silver goes to the parking lot,” deputies said. During the altercation, Silver “returned to the apartment at least two other times to exchange words with Wolfe,” and Wolfe made “a phone call to another member of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club,” according to the complaint.

Two men then came to the apartment and “Wolfe identified Silver to them,” at which point “one male wears a ski mask, leaves the apartment, shoots Silver and flees the scene with the men who arrived with him”; Wolfe is also seen leaving “prior to law enforcement arriving,” deputies said. Wolfe has been charged with first-degree murder. He is being held in North Central Regional Jail on $500,012 bond.

Hells Angels Motorcycle Club Hold Food Drive

Owensboro, Kentucky USA (October 16, 2022) - Members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, Nomads Kentucky held their fifth annual food drive at Owensboro’s American Legion Saturday. As folks ate and drank in the American Legion’s bar area, Hells Angels prospects sold club merchandise at tables in a separate room. 

Out front, full patched members stood by a trailer where people could drop off their food items which will all be donated to the Help Office of Owensboro, according to a Hells Angels MC spokesman.

 

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer

Many people need the proceeds of the Hells Angels food drive now more than ever, he said. “A lot of people are having hard times right now. Everybody knows the prices of everything are going up,” the spokesman said. The club’s reputation as an outlaw gang isn’t representative of what it is today. 

“In the 1970's, I was one-year old. I could go back and look at how the military or any organization was in the 1970's compared to what it is today,” he said. “People are going to think what they think. People who know us and have been around, know how we are and who we are.”

American Legion manager Laura Morris said it’s always a pleasure to have the bikers hold the event there. “For them to help us and help out in the community, I just can’t say enough good things about them,” said Morris.

Source: Messenger-Inquirer  

Mongols MC Member Arrested Over Killing

Pinellas Park, Florida, USA (October 13, 2022) - The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has made a second arrest in the fatal shooting of a Palm Harbor motorcycle club member. On Wednesday, the sheriff's office arrested Dylan Lee Pascale, 35, of Pinellas Park on first-degree murder charges for his involvement in the gangland-style slaying of Dominick Paternoster, 46, on April 27.

His arrest follows the August 26 indictment of Paul Mogilevsky, 48, of Pinellas Park by a grand jury on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Paternoster at his home, 104 Dunbridge Drive, Palm Harbor. Gualtieri said Paternoster was a member of the Raiders motorcycle club, a support or puppet club of the Mongols Motorcycle Club. He was shot multiple times by more than one gun after being identified as a "snitch" who was providing information to law enforcement, Gualtieri said.

RELATED | Mongols MC member faces murder charge

Although based in California, Gualtieri said the clubs numbers have a growing presence in Tampa Bay. “They're a criminal racketeering organization, and they are organized crime, really, in its truest sense," Gualtieri said. "They're very, very different from everyday people who simply enjoy riding motorcycles on weekends and belong to true social motorcycle clubs. These aren't the people you see out on a Sunday motorcycle ride. They're thugs who terrorize and commit crimes."



Mogilevsky and Pascale are both members of the Mongols, which share a clubhouse in Tampa with the Raiders, Gualtieri said.

Source: Tampa News

Hells Angels MC Member Gets 10 Years

Vancouver, B.C.(October 12, 2022) - Hells Angels Motorcycle Club remember Jason Arkinstall was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years for smuggling large amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine worth millions into Canada two years ago. Surrey Provincial Court Judge Mark Jetté said that Arkinstall was entitled to extra credit for time in pretrial jail during the pandemic, meaning his remaining term is six years and three months.

Crown prosecutor Maggie Loda told a sentencing hearing last month that the 48-year-old only motivation was profit when he attempted to bring 90 kilograms of meth and 118 kilograms of cocaine into B.C. from Idaho on October 23, 2020. United States border agents spotted Arkinstall and a friend near the border with five duffel bags full of drugs. The two men fled but were later arrested on the Canadian side of the border.

Arkinstall, a member of the Hells Angels Mission City chapter, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to importing the illicit substances. Loda argued that Arkinstall should get a 12-year prison term based on the quantity of drugs and his criminal history. His defence lawyer Ken Westlake said a seven-year sentence would be more appropriate.

Jetté said Wednesday “that the sentence of seven years jail suggested by defence counsel would not be fit, given Mr. Arkinstall’s criminal record — in particular his prior conviction for drug trafficking, the quantity of drugs involved, and the fact that two schedule-one drugs were imported into Canada.”

“On the other side of the ledger, I find that Mr. Arkinstall’s early guilty plea justifies the sentence itself fall somewhere below the 12 years sought by Crown Counsel,” Jetté said. “I have concluded that a fit sentence in this case is 10 years jail.”

Source: Yahoo News  

Former Grim Reapers MC Prez Sentenced

Evansville, Indiana, USA (October 10, 2022) - A federal judge handed down a long prison sentence this week to the former president of the Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club chapter in Evansville, Indiana. On Wednesday, U.S. Southern District of Indiana Judge Richard Young sentenced Gary Forston to serve 16-and-a-half years in federal prison for his role in an alleged drug trafficking scheme.

The former GRMC president pleaded guilty to four out of the 12 counts originally listed in his indictment back in July.

 

According to the agreement, Forston admitted he conspired to distribute more than 550 grams of methamphetamine and used a firearm to further a drug trafficking operation.Forston was arrested in November 2019 after local and federal law enforcement officers swarmed the Grim Reapers' club house in the former SheLounge strip club off Diamond Avenue.

RELATED | Grim Reapers MC Members Busted In Drug Raid

At the time of the raid, Forston, a convicted felon, allegedly had in his possession a 0.40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, leading a grand jury to indict him on weapons charges. Ten pounds of meth, 23 guns and $35,000 in cash were seized during the raid, according to then U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler. The drugs reportedly had an estimated street value of more than $250,000.

In February 2020, a federal grand jury indicted 17 people from Indiana and Kentucky, including Forston, for allegedly operating the methamphetamine trafficking ring affiliated with the motorcycle club. Of the 17 people indicted, 13 were from Evansville. When those indictments were announced, Minkler called the Grim Reapers Motorcycle club a "criminal organization."

Central Holman IV, of Owensboro Kentucky, is alleged in federal court documents to have been the club's main supplier of methamphetamine. Besides Holman and Forston, the other 15 people indicted were believed by law enforcement to be "mid-level distributors," records show.

Some of their cases are still ongoing. In September, Holman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to serve 18 years in federal prison. He has since appealed his conviction, according to court records.

Source: WTVW  

Mongols MC member faces murder charge

Largo, Florida, USA - (August 29, 2022) - A Pinellas grand jury has indicted a member of the Mongols motorcycle club who is accused of killing another motorcycle club member he believed to be a police informant. Paul Mogilevsky, 48, faces a first-degree murder charge in the April shooting death of Dominick Paternoster, 46, in Palm Harbor. 

Paternoster was a member of the Raiders MC, a feeder group for the Mongols MC. The two share a clubhouse in Tampa, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a news conference Monday. “Paternoster was not just killed. He was executed,” Gualtieri said. 

He declined to say, however, whether Paternoster was an informant. Mogilevsky and Paternoster were at the Mongols clubhouse in Tampa together on April 27, the night Paternoster was killed, Gualtieri said. They then went to Paternoster’s Palm Harbor home with another person.

 

Video evidence and witnesses placed the suspects at Paternoster’s home on the night of the shooting, Gualtieri said. Mogilevsky initially said he and another person left Paternoster asleep in a recliner at home, according to court documents. However, investigators said Mogilevsky lied about the timeline of events that night.



A confidential witness also told authorities that Mogilevsky had planned the shooting and admitted to killing Paternoster, court documents say, and authorities were able to verify some of the information the witness provided. Mogilevsky and the other suspect got rid of some evidence in Tampa Bay, Gualtieri said. Members of the sheriff’s office dive team helped recover the evidence.

Gualtieri said multiple guns were used to shoot Paternoster in his home, where he was found dead about 4:30 p.m. on April 28, according to court documents. Law enforcement is still investigating the death and plans to make other arrests, the sheriff said.

Hells Angels Money Launder to Serve Time in Prison

Quebec, Canada (August 22, 2022) - Four people who were convicted six years ago on charges alleging they helped members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club in Quebec launder money have been ordered to report to penitentiaries within 48 hours to begin serving their sentences. The order was issued Monday as part of a decision made by the Quebec Court of Appeal.

 

All four were first charged in 2009 in Operation Diligence, an investigation led by the Sûreté du Québec, into how members of the Hells Angels MC based in Quebec had infiltrated specific segments of the province’s construction industry. As part of the same investigation, they were found to have helped full-patch members of the motorcycle club's charter in Trois-Rivières hide their money.

They managed to avoid having to serve time behind bars because they appealed the convictions. Their appeals went through a very lengthy and complicated process. Initially, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled it took too long for the Crown to prosecute the case and ordered a stay of proceedings on all charges.

The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled Monday on the other issues raised by the appellants, including arguments that there was insufficient evidence of a conspiracy was involved in what what happened. The appellate court disagreed and ordered that the four accused begin serving their sentences in two days.

SOURCE: Montreal Gazette  

Alleged HA member drops water balloons on homeless

Vancouver, British Columbia (August 20, 2022) - An alleged Hells Angels MC member had his TikTok account banned recently after posting photos of himself dropping water balloons from a Vancouver apartment building onto homeless people below.

 

Jaimie, an alleged member of the Hells Angels MC Hardside charter, began posting the videos a few months ago, though lamented last week in an Instagram post that his TikTok account had been banned. “That didn’t take long,” he wrote over a screen shot of the note from TikTok banning the account, which used his nickname ‘Jewsifer.’

Jamie did not respond to a message sent through Instagram asking for comment. But less than an hour afterwards, all his social media accounts disappeared. He had also posted the same water balloon videos on his Instagram account under the heading “Wet and Wild.”

In one of the videos, he fills a red water balloon at a kitchen sink, commenting about substance users blocking his garage door below. He then opens the window and throws the balloon at someone lying down on a blanket in the alley. The victim shouts “ahhh” as the balloon hits the ground nearby and splashes him.

Driver found not guilty in 2019 fatal crash

Concord, New Hampshire (August 10, 2022) - A jury on Tuesday acquitted a pickup truck driver of causing the deaths of seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club in a head-on collision in northern New Hampshire back in 2019.

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, had pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of negligent homicide, manslaughter, driving under the influence, and reckless conduct, although some of the charges were dropped during the trial. He has been in jail since the crash on June 21, 2019, in Randolph. His trial began on July 26.

Read More: Driver Acquitted in Deaths of Jarheads MC Members

Police say new MC's linked with Hells Angels

Vancouver, B.C. (August 1, 2022) - New motorcycle clubs that police say are linked to the Hells Angels MC are sprouting up around the province, alarming police who suspect the older club is expanding its reach. 

Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, of the 'anti-gang' Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, says there are now about 30 of the support clubs in B.C., compared to 10 chapters of the Hells Angels.

 

“There’s been four or five new ones pop up in the Lower Mainland in the last year,” he said. “The farm team system for the Hells Angels is very alive and well.”

Houghton said six of the approximately 30 support clubs “are self-identified one percenters, so they wear the little one per cent diamond on their leather vest.” That means they identify as “outlaw” motorcycle clubs, he said, of the expression that dates back to the formation of the Hells Angels in 1948.

After more than two years of COVID restrictions, Hells Angels and their supporters are hosting large “rides” and other events that had been cancelled throughout the pandemic. That has allowed police to gather intelligence on how the biker landscape has changed.

Many of the new motorcycle clubs are showing up at Hells Angels events, Houghton said.

 

“The concern, as these clubs proliferate, is that the people in these clubs, will continually confirm their dedication and their loyalty and their subservience to the Hells Angels,” Houghton said.

RELATED | Hells Angels MC support club throttled

Last week, Houghton said that the Throttle Lockers puppet club, which had tried to expand in Kamloops, was basically defunct after a major CFSEU drug investigation that resulted in charges against two of its former members and an associate.

Brad Stephen, a retired Vancouver Police biker specialist, said puppet clubs were not common in B.C. until the past decade, “due to the fact that they’re kind of a conduit into the Hells Angels and there’s some vulnerabilities there.”

Alleged Mongols MC hangout caught up in raid

Queensland, Australia (July 30, 2022) - Operation Viking, which began 6:00 am last Monday, resulted in more than $150,000 cash, seven firearms and a raft of prohibited drugs like methylamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana allegedly being seized across northern NSW and southeast Queensland. The combined street value of the drugs is estimated to be more than $4.5 million.

 

The operation was established by NSW Police in partnership with the NSW Crime Commission, Queensland Police, Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to gather intelligence and disrupt bikie activities across the Northern Rivers and Gold Coast border regions.



State Crime Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Jason Weinstein, said it was the result of two weeks of intensive overt and covert operations to shadow outlaw motorcycle club activity. During the search, officers allegedly located a bar at the rear of the home that contained Mongols paraphernalia, alcohol and an amount of marijuana.

All items were seized and the bar was dismantled.

Redbubble Ordered to Pay Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

Melbourne, Australia (July 29, 2022) - Online merchandise store Redbubble has been ordered to pay the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club more than $78,000 for selling items depicting the MC's logo without permission, in the second ruling against the company in three years.

Redbubble is an online marketplace that allows users to upload images to be printed on merchandise such as stickers, mugs, T-shirts, masks and other items, which are then offered for sale.

 

After winning $5,000 from Redbubble for trademark infringement in 2019, the club launched legal action again last year after discovering more items for sale bearing the Hells Angels MC logo. The company uses keyword filtering to pick up on uploads that may violate the copyright or trademarks of organisations that have sought to protect it, such as the Hells Angels MC.

Redbubble proactively moderates uploads for 477 organisations, and told the court that 2 million artworks uploaded to the site had been moderated in the past five years – including 114 related to the Hells Angels MC since the 2019 court decision.

However, the Hells Angels MC trademark officer in Australia was able to buy a number of items bearing the Hells Angels logo despite the previous court ruling. Over the course of the case, 11 different listings were discovered.

While the only people who had bought items bearing the logos were members of the Hells Angel Motorcycle Club who were seeking to determine whether the items were still for sale, Greenwood did not award damages on the basis of sales but instead for the injury suffered for the use of the trade marks without authorization.