Friday, October 26, 2018
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Pagans MC: District attorney waits on critical info from cops
Pittsburgh, PA (October 25, 2018) BTN — The Allegheny County District Attorney says he is waiting on critical information from Pittsburgh police about a bar fight involving undercover officers and members of the Pagan Motorcycle club.
"That's why I got cameras up and down Carson Street because I don't want to go through this nonsense," said Stephen Zappala, Allegheny County district attorney.
A lot of questions remain over what led to the fight inside Kopy's, and the role of the undercover police officers seen on the video. “I don't know what kind of games these guys are playing, but this is serious stuff," Zappala said. "That's one of the reasons I'm talking with the U.S. attorney.” Zappala says he just received more than a dozen disks of security footage from the night of the fight, nearly two weeks later. “I don't know that they're undercover," Zappala said. "I don't know why they're in the bar.
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We haven't heard from a supervisor that they were on-duty. We haven't heard from a supervisor who the target was, if there was in fact a target.” Attorneys for the four Pagan suspects facing assault charges have criticized the officers conduct, saying they had 40 drinks between them before the fight.
Zappala said he's still waiting on critical information from police, including body camera video from the responding officers. “Controlling a situation or trying to hurt somebody are two totally different things," Zappala said. "This is the second time we've had somebody repeatedly struck in the head. I have a problem with that.”
The Pagan MC members involved in the bar fight are scheduled to be in court next month. Various news sources asked Pittsburgh police to respond to the district attorney's criticism over the handling of the investigation, but a spokesman declined to comment.
SOURCE: WPXI News
A lot of questions remain over what led to the fight inside Kopy's, and the role of the undercover police officers seen on the video. “I don't know what kind of games these guys are playing, but this is serious stuff," Zappala said. "That's one of the reasons I'm talking with the U.S. attorney.” Zappala says he just received more than a dozen disks of security footage from the night of the fight, nearly two weeks later. “I don't know that they're undercover," Zappala said. "I don't know why they're in the bar.
Related
Related
We haven't heard from a supervisor that they were on-duty. We haven't heard from a supervisor who the target was, if there was in fact a target.” Attorneys for the four Pagan suspects facing assault charges have criticized the officers conduct, saying they had 40 drinks between them before the fight.
Zappala said he's still waiting on critical information from police, including body camera video from the responding officers. “Controlling a situation or trying to hurt somebody are two totally different things," Zappala said. "This is the second time we've had somebody repeatedly struck in the head. I have a problem with that.”
The Pagan MC members involved in the bar fight are scheduled to be in court next month. Various news sources asked Pittsburgh police to respond to the district attorney's criticism over the handling of the investigation, but a spokesman declined to comment.
SOURCE: WPXI News
No Surrender MC: Founder gets six years in prison
Breda, Netherlands (October 25, 2018) BTN — The founder of the No Surrender motorcycle club has been jailed for six years for assault, extortion and making threats, as well as laundering €1.3 million. Klaas Otto left one of his victims with permanent injuries and threatened to cut off his children’s ears, the district court in Breda heard.
The 51-year-old told another victim that his wife would be raped by members of his club if he refused to pay up. ‘He used the threat of severe violence to force his victims to hand over large sums of money and cars,’ judges said in passing sentence. The court said there was an ‘atmosphere of menace’ surrounding Otto, who denied all charges against him.
Several alleged victims refused to testify because they feared reprisals, but the court found Otto guilty of threatening and mistreating two car dealers. The sentence was lower than the 10 years demanded by prosecutors, partly because the court decided other charges including arson and letting off a hand grenade had not been proven. Judges also took account of the fact that Otto had been the target in a shooting incident and had been detained in custody for 18 months on a charge of threatening a prosecutor, which the court decided was not supported by the evidence.
His incarceration was ‘too long and too severe,’ the court decided. The prosecution service said last December it would seek a nationwide ban on No Surrender similar to the one imposed on rival motorcycle clubs Saturadah and Bandidos.
SOURCE: Dutch News
The 51-year-old told another victim that his wife would be raped by members of his club if he refused to pay up. ‘He used the threat of severe violence to force his victims to hand over large sums of money and cars,’ judges said in passing sentence. The court said there was an ‘atmosphere of menace’ surrounding Otto, who denied all charges against him.
Several alleged victims refused to testify because they feared reprisals, but the court found Otto guilty of threatening and mistreating two car dealers. The sentence was lower than the 10 years demanded by prosecutors, partly because the court decided other charges including arson and letting off a hand grenade had not been proven. Judges also took account of the fact that Otto had been the target in a shooting incident and had been detained in custody for 18 months on a charge of threatening a prosecutor, which the court decided was not supported by the evidence.
His incarceration was ‘too long and too severe,’ the court decided. The prosecution service said last December it would seek a nationwide ban on No Surrender similar to the one imposed on rival motorcycle clubs Saturadah and Bandidos.
SOURCE: Dutch News
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Pagans MC: Attorneys say new video shows cops started bar fight
Pittsburgh, PA (October 23, 2018) BTN — Four members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club were all charged after a brawl at Kopy’s Bar on the South Side earlier this month.
They are Frank DeLuca, Eric Heitzenrater, Bruce Thomas and Michael Zokaites.
New video was released by their attorneys on Tuesday.
Before the brawl, you can see DeLuca reaching out to shake hands with undercover officers. “Our clients are minding their own business at the bar trying to ignore them.
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The officers are repeatedly going over, tapping them, touching them, trying to engage them,” said attorney Wendy Williams. The attorneys believe things escalated due to the amount of alcohol they say the undercover officers were drinking. “The main aggressor in this incident is seen drinking a fifth and a half of Jack Daniels in shots over the course of four to five hours,” said Williams. “One of the officers brandished a firearm.
He could barely stand. He was wobbly. Displayed a firearm to one of the defendants,” said attorney Martin Dietz. “After this melee occurred, all seen on video, my client was restrained by four, possibly six officers and punched in the face after hair being pulled back and neck being pinched over 23 times in face and head,” said attorney Lee Rothman.
As for Thomas and Heitzenrater:
“My review of video shows he took no aggressive stance, no aggressive actions and violently thrown to the ground unprovoked,” said attorney Thomas Will. “My client absolutely engaged in no aggressive behavior and he was what we call sucker-punched twice by an undercover detective,’ said Dietz.
This case has been continued until Nov. 16.
SOURCE: KDKA2
Screenshot of the bar fight - Photo credit: KDKA
Before the brawl, you can see DeLuca reaching out to shake hands with undercover officers. “Our clients are minding their own business at the bar trying to ignore them.
Related
The officers are repeatedly going over, tapping them, touching them, trying to engage them,” said attorney Wendy Williams. The attorneys believe things escalated due to the amount of alcohol they say the undercover officers were drinking. “The main aggressor in this incident is seen drinking a fifth and a half of Jack Daniels in shots over the course of four to five hours,” said Williams. “One of the officers brandished a firearm.
He could barely stand. He was wobbly. Displayed a firearm to one of the defendants,” said attorney Martin Dietz. “After this melee occurred, all seen on video, my client was restrained by four, possibly six officers and punched in the face after hair being pulled back and neck being pinched over 23 times in face and head,” said attorney Lee Rothman.
As for Thomas and Heitzenrater:
“My review of video shows he took no aggressive stance, no aggressive actions and violently thrown to the ground unprovoked,” said attorney Thomas Will. “My client absolutely engaged in no aggressive behavior and he was what we call sucker-punched twice by an undercover detective,’ said Dietz.
This case has been continued until Nov. 16.
SOURCE: KDKA2
Monday, October 22, 2018
Bacchus MC: Sentencing begins for club members
Nova Scotia, Canada (October 22, 2018) BTN — A justice of the
Nova Scotia Supreme Court has reserved his sentencing decision in the case of
three members of the Bacchus Motorcycle Club who have been convicted of
extortion and intimidation.
In convicting Patrick Michael James, 51, Duane Jamie Howe,
49, and David John Pearce, 44, Justice Peter Rosinski also said that the Bacchus motorcycle club is a criminal organization, the first time that designation has been made in
Nova Scotia.
The men were convicted in a trial this summer. The convictions stem from incidents in 2012 involving a man
whose identity is protected by a publication ban.
The man tried to open a chapter of the Brotherhood
Motorcycle Club in Nova Scotia. It is not an outlaw gang, but it uses vests and
patches similar to those worn by outlaw riders.
Man ordered to disband club
When the Bacchus members saw social media posts of the
Brotherhood club, they ordered the man to disband the club and destroy the
patches. He was to provide proof by showing the shredded patches to Bacchus
members.
Later, Pearce and Howe spotted the man at a Bikers Down
event. They confronted and threatened him, prompting the man to sell his
motorcycles and install a panic alarm in his home.
Sentencing arguments began Monday
In his sentencing submissions, Crown prosecutor Glen Scheuer
argued that the criminal organization designation was one reason the sentences
should be substantial. He recommended a five-to-six year sentence for James and
four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half year sentences for Howe and Pearce.
Scheuer submitted photographs taken from Pearce's Facebook
profile which show the man wearing T-shirts and sporting decals on his
motorcycle that were supportive of motorcycle gangs.
Scheuer said the social media posts included the phrases
"Police and government are very corrupt" and "All cops are
bastards."
Bacchus tattoo in police photos
Patrick MacEwen, Pearce's lawyer, said that wearing clothing
that supports these groups is not a crime and the clothes are readily available
for purchase by any member of the public.
MacEwen also said that Pearce is showing a Bacchus tattoo
with the dates 2010 to 2012 in one of the photos introduced by police. MacEwen
said any member who leaves the gang in good standing must put an end date on
his tattoo and that's what his client did.
MacEwen and the other two defence lawyers also pointed out
that all three men have avoided any further run-ins with the law in six years
it has taken the case to make its way through the courts.
He recommended a sentence of six months for Pearce, who was
the only one of the three to accept the judge's invitation to address the
court.
"Ever since when this happened I do regret that it
happened," Pearce said. The Crown had argued that all three men showed no
remorse for their crimes.
Trevor McGuigan, the lawyer for James, recommended a
two-year sentence for his client.
McGuigan said James has been taking care of his father and
breeding rare dogs, while avoiding any further criminal activity. McGuigan said
there was no physical violence in this crime.
Pat Atherton represents Howe. He said his client should be
eligible for the shortest possible sentence.
Atherton said if it wasn't prohibited by case law, he'd be
arguing that Howe get a sentence in the community. Instead, he suggested a one-year
sentence would be sufficient.
He questioned a forfeiture order the Crown had requested,
saying there was no proof some of the items seized from Howe's home were
associated with any crime.
He mentioned a brass ring with a one per cent symbol on it.
Gangs like Bacchus and the Hells Angels are known to use the one per cent
symbol to identify themselves as the one per cent of motorcycle riders who are
considered outlaws.
Rosinski will hand down his decision Nov. 7.
SOURCE: CBC News
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