Police limit hours at bar due to fights

Cape Coral, Fla. (December 20, 2018) BTN — The Cape Coral Police Department has suspended the extended hours permit of Dixie Roadhouse after about 40 patrons leaving the bar started fighting in the parking lot across the street earlier this month.

Bike Night at Dixie Roadhouse in Cape Coral, Florida 

Master Sgt. Allan Kolak, the department's public affairs officer, said via email that shortly before 3 a.m. Dec. 8, the patrons got into an altercation and yelled gang-affiliated comments. Police determined they were related to a Fort Myers-based motorcycle club that is on the U.S. Attorney's Most Violent Offender List.

He said officers observed members of both the "Eternals" and the "Outlaws" motorcycle clubs leaving Dixie Roadhouse about the time of the altercation.

"Officers called for backup and all south units responded to the scene, totaling 13 police officers," Kolak said. "The necessary allocation of police personnel required by this violent activity compromised the police protection for the remaining south district for approximately one hour."

According to an officer narrative report from the incident, some people who were fighting were detained in handcuffs but released after the situation calmed down. No one cooperated with the investigation, the report said.

Police Chief David Newlan suspended the permit on Wednesday, Dec. 12, but the decision to revoke the permit stems from an "increasing threat to the public health, safety and welfare" posed by Dixie Roadhouse, Kolak said.

He said officers have reported an increase in motorcycle club members patronizing Dixie, and there were six incidents in September concerning intoxicated patrons. Among those, he said two patrons were found passed out, one in the bar and the other in a nearby public parking lot; and two patrons were arrested as a result of DUI incidents, one of which resulted in a DUI-related vehicle crash.

Kolak said Dixie staff "failed or refused to take reasonable precautions to discourage unlawful activity including, but not limited to, disturbances and vehicular use by intoxicated patrons." The police chief recommended prohibiting motorcycle club colors at Dixie, but Kolak said the recommendation was ignored.

"Chief Newlan has discussed, several times, the need for this establishment to impress on its employee's responsible hospitality industry practices concerning both the welfare of intoxicated patrons and the need to refuse to serve persons who are or are in danger of becoming intoxicated,"  There has not been any appreciable improvement in the management of these practices.

A Dixie Roadhouse manager was not available Wednesday afternoon.

Cape Coral issued the extended hours permit to Dixie Roadhouse in April, after City Council passed an ordinance to extend bar hours to 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the city's CRA district, which includes businesses along Cape Coral Parkway East and SE 47th Terrace. Bars previously had to close by 2 a.m.

Proponents of the ordinance, which passed 7-1, argued the extended hours would attract more people to the Cape and show local businesses that the city supports them. Newlan said during the city council meeting in March that the city's previous trial with 4 a.m. hours showed an increases in service calls.

"When you bring in a larger crowd down to an area, you've got to expect there's going to be an uptick in calls for service and/or crime," Newlan said at the March meeting. "It's going to happen."

The News-Press previously reported that Dixie Roadhouse was deriving the greatest benefit from a previous extended bar hours trial in the city. Police said that two other businesses, BaackStreets Sports Bar and Remixx Lounge, currently use their extended hour permits.

SOURCE: ABC 7

Undercover cops drinks bought by city

Pittsburgh, PA (December 20, 2018) BTN — A night of binge drinking by four undercover Pittsburgh police detectives that ended with a bar fight on the South Side of Pittsburgh were all paid for with city money, news channels have confirmed.

Video still of the Bar fight at Kopy's Bar

The owner of Kopy's Bar told news reporters that the officers had been drinking in the establishment for several hours before a few members of the Pagans motorcycle club walked in a little before midnight. About an hour later, words were exchanged between a couple of the Pagans MC members and the drunk cops when the fight broke out.

All four officers involved have been reassigned and the charges that were initially brought against the Pagans have been dropped.

SOURCE: WXPI News

The Biker Trash Network as been covering this story from the beginning and timeline stories are below.

  

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Police arrest more from Outlaw MC raid

Brockville, Canada (December 20, 2018) BTN — Brockville Police have arrested a fourth man in connection with two motorcycle club raids in the city earlier this month. Officers arrested the 30-year-old man on Tuesday “in relation to the investigation,” police reported Wednesday.

Police, who had not released the latest accused’s name as of Wednesday afternoon, held him in custody pending a bail hearing on the same charges laid on the three earlier accused, including kidnapping and assault with a weapon.

Confiscated items from the motorcycle club raids in Brockville, Canada

The latest arrest relates to two search warrants carried out on Dec. 6 by the Brockville Police Service, with the help of the Ontario Provincial Police Biker Enforcement Unit, the Belleville Police Service and Kingston Police Service.

 Related | Police arrest three connected to the Outlaws MC

The Joint Forces Team raided two Brockville residences, at 283 Park Street and Apartment 17 at 16 Cartier Court, in relation to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club and an Outlaws support club, the Dead Eyes Motorcycle Club.

During those raids, officers seized a number of items, including Dead Eyes Outlaw Motorcycle Club vests, clothing and related paraphernalia; documents supporting involvement in a criminal organization; a small quantity of cocaine; cellphones; clothing “worn during commission of offences”; and a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix.

Thomas Bell, Norman Cranshaw Rosbottom and his son, Norman Stanley Rosbottom, were charged in connection with crimes that began in March, police noted. The charges include kidnapping, robbery, assault with a weapon, assault, and two separate offences relating to organized crime groups, said police.

City police say they have been aware of the Outlaws MC in the area for nearly two years, but there has been a “drastic increase” in their activity over the past summer. The twin raids Dec. 6 were the city police force’s second motorcycle club operation this fall.

In September, police arrested two people in connection with drug and weapons offences with motorcycle club links following a raid at 21 Sevenoaks Avenue in Brockville. Four other people were initially sought after that raid, one of whom later turned himself in in Kingston. Two of the remaining suspects turned themselves in to Brockville police, while the other also did so in Kingston.

Police Chief Scott Fraser said Wednesday he does not believe any further arrests are pending in connection with the December operation. While such arrests might put a dent in criminal organizations, it would be naive to expect the gang activity to stop, added the chief.

“As long as they keep committing criminal offences, we’ll keep arresting them and locking them up, or at least charging them,” said Fraser.

Police said earlier this month the club activity does not usually put at risk members of the public who are not in some way involved with drugs. “Generally, it’s not a random victimization,” Fraser added Wednesday.

“People who become victims are generally involved with them.” Still, the chief urged members of the public to report any suspicious activity to police.

 SOURCE: The Recorder and Times

Bandidos chapters remain legal

The Hague, Netherlands (December 19, 2018) BTN — The national chapter of a motorcycle club was correctly banned by a lower court two years ago, but the local branches of the club can remain, appeal court judges said on Tuesday.

Bandidos Motorcycle Club (BMC) Europa and the Dutch organisation Bandidos Motorcycle Club Holland had gone to court to appeal against a Utrecht court decision to ban their organisations two years ago. In that ruling, judges banned the motorcycle club with immediate effect in order to ‘halt behaviour which could disrupt society’. 

The appeal court judges upheld the ban on the national organisation but said the ruling ‘does not apply to other, independent Bandidos chapters in the Netherlands because the public prosecution request was not directed at this.’ 

The group’s lawyer Marnix van der Werf said on Tuesday that the appeal court ruling was a victory for the group. ‘Nothing has changed and the individual Bandidos clubs remain legal,’ he said. ‘People from the various clubs have ‘Holland’ on the back of their jackets but Bandidos Holland is not a real association.’

Sittard 

The organisation has been operating in the Netherlands since 2014 and has chapters in Sittard, Nijmegen and Utrecht. The public prosecution department began trying to have motorcycle clubs banned in 2007 using criminal law, but that backfired after the Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that the department had failed to properly establish that the Hells Angels formed a criminal association. 

In September, the public prosecution department has asked judges in Assen to ban the motorcycle club No Surrender, arguing that the group is an outlaw gang and involved in drugs and other crime.

SOURCE: Dutch News

Mayor wants Hells Angels MC clubhouse gone

Surrey, B.C. (December 18, 2018) BTN — Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum says he had no idea that the Hells Angels had opened a clubhouse in his city, even after a pledge from police several years ago that the motorcycle club would not be allowed to set up there.

McCallum, who was elected in October, said on Monday that the Hells Angels are “not welcome” in Surrey.

After a service this past Saturday service for murdered Hells Angel Chad Wilson, his fellow bikers gathered at the HA’s Hardside chapter clubhouse, which is on a small acreage near 180th St. and 96th Ave.

Mayor wants the Hells Angels MC Clubhouse closed up

Officers from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, Surrey RCMP, Vancouver Police Department and other RCMP detachments monitored both the Maple Ridge funeral and the afterparty, both of which Postmedia reported on.

Wilson had moved over to the Hardside chapter when it opened on March 17, 2017. He had previously been a member of the Haney Hells Angels and the “Dago” chapter based in San Diego.

The clubhouse is believed to have opened some time in 2018 — five years after former top Surrey Mountie Bill Fordy pledged to block another Hells Angels chapter from using Surrey as its base.

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McCallum echoed that sentiment in a statement to Postmedia on Monday. “Hells Angels are not welcome in Surrey. I was unaware that a clubhouse had been set up here recently,” McCallum said. “I will be addressing this matter immediately with the officer in charge of Surrey RCMP.”

That officer, Asst. Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, said Monday that his officers are well aware of the clubhouse. “The police and the City of Surrey were made aware of the Hells Angels intention to set up a clubhouse in 2017 and, at that time, the city and the police collectively reviewed all legal means to keep this clubhouse out of Surrey,” McDonald said in a statement Monday.

“However, the police have no legal authority to deny someone from purchasing or renting a residence.”

He said he agreed with McCallum that the Hells Angels are not welcome in Surrey “and that we will use every lawful means to ensure that their members are not participating in any criminal activity in this city.”

McDonald said both Surrey RCMP and officers with the anti-gang CFSEU “have regular contact with members of the Hardside chapter to ensure they understand our expectations regarding public safety.” There have not been any problems at events hosted by Hardside or other outlaw motorcycle gangs in Surrey, he said.

In January 2013, former head Mountie Fordy said he met with the president of the West Point Hells Angels chapter to tell him not to establish a clubhouse in Surrey. West Point started in 2012 and was expected to base itself in Surrey.

West Point waited years to open its clubhouse, which is located in a rented house on 2.25 acres in Langley, near the Canada-U.S. border. The Hardside chapter also appears to be in a rented house, which is located on two acres of property zoned agricultural. The property, assessed this year at just $47,000 because it is farmland, is owned by a Delta couple that has no apparent association with the Hells Angels.

Hells Angels spokesman Rick Ciarniello did not respond to an emailed request for comment Monday.

Currently, the Hells Angels are embroiled in a long-running court case with the B.C. government over the ownership of three clubhouses in Nanaimo, Kelowna and East Vancouver. The director of civil forfeiture wants the properties turned over to the government as instruments of criminal activity. The Angels have alleged the Civil Forfeiture Act is unconstitutional. The trial resumes in February.

CFSEU Sgt. Brenda Winpenny said the Hells Angels use their club as “a place where they can have their meetings, social gatherings, parties, and store assets belonging to the club.”

The bikers also use their clubhouses to create legitimacy and public awareness of their brand.

“Clubhouses are armed by overt surveillance and fortified to ensure security,” she said. “Clubhouses also serve as an intimidation factor in the communities where they exist.”

SOURCE: Vancouver Sun