Police seize assets from Comanchero MC

Auckland, New Zealand (April 11, 2019) BTN — Police have seized $3.7 million in assets in a major operation across Auckland targeting a high-profile motorcycle club. Police said in a statement a year-long investigation into the activities of the Comanchero Motorcycle Club has concluded, as a number of search warrants were earlier executed.

It's understood New Zealand criminals deported from Australia were setting up a chapter here. "More than 80 police staff, including special groups such as the Armed Offenders Squad, dog section and specialist search group have been executing search warrants at seven properties throughout the Auckland region this morning," a statement from police says.

A number of people have been arrested, including "senior members and associates of the Comanchero motorcycle club," the statement says. About $3.7 million in assets have been seized, including two residential properties and several high end vehicles, including a number of Range Rovers, a Rolls Royce and two Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Motorcycle Clubs  use expensive items to "market themselves" national manager of the financial crime group Detective Superintendent Iain Chapman says. "We are determined to strip them of that wealth that we allege has come from criminal offending and take the profit out of it," he says.

A photo posted to the Facebook page "Gangs of New Zealand" in December 2017 showed five men, two of whom were wearing Comanchero paraphernalia, along with the caption:

"Comanchero New Zealand. Making moves here in Aotearoa. Respect." Chris Cahill, president of the Police Association, said at the time it's "no surprise" we may be seeing a rise in Comanchero and affiliated gangsters. "Some of these gangs are very experienced. They have international links and that's adding to the level of concern we have in gangs around New Zealand."

He says one of the major concerns with gang activity moving over from Australia is that as we are a small country, they are likely to quickly clash with other gangs as they compete for turf.

SOURCE: News Hub

Hells Angels MC still fighting for their clubhouse

Nanaimo, BC, Canada (April 10, 2019) BTN — A lawyer for the Hells Angels suggested Tuesday that a civil-forfeiture case against the motorcycle club was motivated by a desire by the RCMP to get “bad guys,” and had nothing to do with concerns about the club’s Nanaimo property.

The comments were made by lawyer Joseph Arvay during the second day of his questioning of Phil Tawtel, the executive director of the provincial civil-forfeiture office. Arvay was asking Tawtel about a referral document in which the RCMP recommended in 2007 that the Hells Angels clubhouse in Nanaimo should be targeted for civil forfeiture.

A lawyer for the director objected to Arvay’s questioning based on the document and the witness was asked to leave the courtroom while the lawyers argued the matter. Arvay told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barry Davies that he was going to ask the court to draw the inference that from the police perspective at least, the RCMP referral was much more about simply going after the motorcycle club than any real concern about the property.

He accused the director of looking for “whatever hooks” are available in the applicable legislation to go after the property.

Arvay said that although the RCMP referred to a possible beating in the clubhouse and the discovery of some guns inside the premises, the major basis for the referral was that the clubhouse was a “booze can” and operating without a liquor licence. “That was the hook,” he told the judge. “But the fundamental reason for recommending this civil forfeiture is: These are bad guys, you should go after them.”

Brent Olthuis, a lawyer for the director, objected to the questioning on the basis that it was calling for hearsay from a witness on the motivation of the RCMP as the referring agency. “I say you can’t do that. You simply cannot do that,” Olthuis said.

Olthuis also objected to the questioning on the basis that it was not relevant to the issues in the case. But the judge said that in “general terms” he agreed with Arvay and noted that in canvassing the constitutional issues being raised in the case, he needed a “full factual matrix” to make a final decision. “The director has opined that the Hells Angels are a worldwide organization with criminal purposes and that the clubhouses act to facilitate that role,” said the judge.

“To deny the defendants the right to examine the basis upon which these proceedings were commenced, and the interaction between the RCMP and the director, would render the constitutional question something to be decided in a factual vacuum. That will not occur.” The judge said that he agreed it might be difficult to determine the motivation of the RCMP, but added that what was relevant in the case was the actions taken by the director in response to the RCMP referral.

The long-running case saw the civil-forfeiture office launch its lawsuit seeking forfeiture of the Nanaimo clubhouse in 2007. The director alleges the clubhouse is an “instrument of unlawful activity” and that it’s an asset that should be forfeited to the government.

In 2012, the office filed another lawsuit seeking the forfeiture of two more Hells Angels clubhouses — in Vancouver and Kelowna.

The trial is expected to continue Wednesday.

SOURCE: Times Colonist 

Pagan's MC leader sentenced in meth bust

Daytona Beach, Florida, USA (April 10, 2019) BTN — A Port Orange man who was a leader of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Cub was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in federal prison for his role in a meth distribution conspiracy, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Brian “Sledge” Burt, 47, pleaded guilty on Jan. 16 to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Orlando. Burt was a member of the Pagan’s Mother Chapter, a group of 13 that directed the Pagan’s criminal activities throughout the United States and conspired with different drug trafficking groups to distribute methamphetamine in and around Daytona Beach, officials said in an emailed statement.

Related | Pagan's MC dope supplier found guilty
Related | Two Pagan's MC members plead guilty

Burt was the first biker sentenced. Another Pagan indicted in the case, Michael “Clutch” Andrews, 33, of Palm Coast, has also pleaded guilty. Andrew “Yeti” Shettler, 33, of Palm Coast, was also indicted and identified as a member of the Thunderguards Motorcycle Club, which is affiliated with the Pagan’s, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Shettler has also pleaded guilty.

The FBI, which was later joined by the Drug Enforcement Administration, began an investigation in April 2017 into drug trafficking groups that had supplied motorcycle clubs, including the Pagan’s, in Central Florida, with distribution amounts of methamphetamine, the release said.

So far, 19 individuals in all have been found guilty as a result of this joint investigation. “This case exemplifies the cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to dismantle dangerous criminal organizations that threaten the safety of our communities,” said Rachel L. Rojas, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division. “The FBI will continue to target the leadership of these organizations and bring them to justice for the harm caused by their criminal actions.”

SOURCE: The Daytona Beech News-Journal 

Cop suspended for assaulting club member

Quebec, Canada (April 8, 2019) BTN — A Sûreté du Québec officer has been suspended for 60 days without pay for assaulting a member of the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club while the latter was in custody in 2014.

The sanction against Bruno Landry was issued by the Quebec Police Ethics Committee last week and follows Landry’s conviction for assault in connection with the same incident in Quebec Court in 2016. However, the police officer’s guilty plea was followed by an unconditional discharge, meaning Landry would not have a criminal record.

In October 2014, Landry was called in as backup in the arrest of Jean-François Émard, a member of the Rock Machine, on suspicion of possession of drugs. After Émard had been placed in a cell, Landry’s colleague asked him three times to accompany him to question the suspect. Landry finally agreed, and the officers said they were subjected to string of insults and provocations from Émard during the process.

Landry began to leave the cell but the insults continued and, finally, the officer turned around and struck the suspect. The ethics committee heard that after the fight had been broken up, Landry felt tremendous remorse and realized he had made a mistake. He was suspended from duty by the SQ days later.

Landry sought therapy to control his emotions and, during his absence from the force, went to university to study cybersecurity and did volunteer work. When he was returned to duty, Landry worked in administrative roles at the SQ’s highway patrol section.

After his guilty plea in Quebec Court, Landry had to face the SQ’s internal disciplinary committee in 2017. After hearing the facts of the case, including details of the stress that Landry was dealing with in his personal life at the time of the incident, the disciplinary committee decided Landry should be suspended for 85 days rather than dismissed from the force, as called for by the nature of the offence.

Finally, the police ethics committee heard the case and, considering a joint recommendation from the defence and the prosecution, buttressed by Landry’s reiteration of his remorse and avowals of confidence in the officer from his superiors, ruled he should be suspended for 60 days.

SOURCE: Montreal Gazette

Hells Angels annual ride honors slain member

Vancouver, B.C. (April 6, 2019) BTN — About 80 Hells Angels and associates gathered at the bikers East End clubhouse Saturday morning for their annual ride to pay tribute to fallen comrade Dave (Screwy) Swartz. Specialized police officers, who investigate so called motorcycle clubs, were also on hand to take photographs and videos as the riders arrived.

Police watching and taking photos club members

Vancouver police traffic enforcement officers checked vehicle registrations of several Hells Angels, prompting East End chapter president John Bryce to head out to talk to police. Some of the bikers muttered insults at officers, who were stationed across from the clubhouse, located at 3598 East Georgia St. VPD Sgt. Jason Robillard said police were out in force “to monitor and ensure that the rules of the road are followed.” “Public safety remains our top priority,” Robillard said.

Swartz was a full-patch member of the East End chapter when he was gunned down in Surrey on April 6,1988, by a friend after an all-night drinking party. The friend then killed himself with the same gun. Swartz’s son is now a member of the Vancouver chapter of the notorious biker gang. The Hells Angels were joined Saturday by “support clubs” from around B.C., including the Langford Savages, the Dirty Bikers, the Jesters, the Teamsters’ Horsemen, the Shadow Club and the Devil’s Army out of Campbell River.

Forfeiture case nears end

The East End clubhouse, assessed this year as being worth $1,275,000, is one of three that the B.C. director of civil forfeiture is fighting in court to seize because of alleged links to criminal activity. Just this week, lawyers for the Hells Angels were in B.C. Supreme Court arguing the director’s lawsuit, first launched in November 2007, should be thrown out. The Hells Angels’ latest petition alleges the RCMP violated the constitutional rights of the bikers by passing on information to the B.C. government’s civil forfeiture office. 

And it also says the section of the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Act that allows information sharing with police violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “The director therefore has no lawful authority to collect information from the RCMP. As such he had no authority to initiate proceedings on the basis of such information,” the HA’s petition states. “In the circumstances, the petitioners seek orders quashing the decisions to initiate proceedings and prohibit the director from continuing, commencing or conducting proceedings on the basis of such information.” The director says in his response to the petition that it is merely a delay tactic and that the bikers have known about the sharing of police information since at least 2008.


The Hells Angels “could and should have brought this judicial review at least 11 years ago,” the court document says, adding the bikers have “offered no explanation for its extraordinary delay in seeking this relief.” The director also said it did not receive any “personal information” about the Hells Angels from the police. A lawyer representing the RCMP also argued before Justice Barry Davies Friday that Canada’s national police force had the power to share information with the director of civil forfeiture. Sitting in court was Hells Angels spokesman Rick Ciarniello, who spent part of the morning filing his fingernails.

The trial, which began last April but has been adjourned several times since, is scheduled to last another three weeks. So far, the government side has called a former Hells Angel and a police agent who infiltrated the East End Hells Angels, as well as a series of police officers. Last month, parts of an expert report by retired Ontario Provincial Police Det. Staff Sgt. Len Isnor were ruled inadmissible because Davies said they were full of biased, unsubstantiated claims about the biker club.

SOURCE: Vancouver Sun

Two bikers killed and five injured in Bar fights

Biker Trash Network: April 6-7, 2019 -- A bloody weekend for Bikers as two separate fights break out in two separate States leaving two dead and five injured as riding season gets underway in many areas. The first was in Killeen, Texas and the one ending in Indianapolis, Indiana resulted in two deaths.

Both stories are developing 

Killeen, Texas (April 6, 2019) BTN — Two people are hospitalized after a shooting between two rival motorcycle clubs outside of a Killeen bar Saturday morning, according to a Killeen Police Department press release. One victim remains in serious condition at AdventHealth Central Texas, and another is in serious condition at a Baylor Scott and White hospital, according to the press release.

The Killeen Police Department responded to a call around 1:40 a.m. Saturday about a "large" fight on the road outside of MJ's Bar and Grill at 1310 S. Fort Hood Road. As officials were on their way to the scene, two people were shot during the fight, according to the press release.

SOURCE: KCENTV

Indianapolis, Indiana (April 7, 2019) BTN — Two people are dead and another three are injured after an early morning shooting on Indy’s near northeast side. Police referred to the location as a “motorcycle club hangout.” According to the Indianapolis Metro Police Department, the shooting occurred shortly after 1 a.m. in the 3600 block of Roosevelt Avenue at a brown brick building that has no name, but is a known hangout for motorcycle clubs. Police believe at least two or three different motorcycle clubs were inside the building at the time the shooting occurred.

After police arrived on scene, they discovered one male and two females suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. One of the female victims was pronounced dead at the scene by Indianapolis EMS. The second female was transported to the hospital in serious but stable condition. The male victim was also transported, police said, but was pronounced dead at the hospital. According to police, two more victims that were suffering from gunshot wounds associated with the motorcycle club shooting later arrived at the hospital. One of them was listed as being in critical condition.


The severity of the fifth victim’s injury isn’t known at this time. Detectives with the Indianapolis Metro Police Department continue to investigate the shooting. IMPD stated a physical altercation may have lead up to the shooting, but they are still working to try and determine a motive. At least two IndyGo buses were loaded up with potential witnesses to be questioned by IMPD. The names of the deceased have not been released, as next of kin has not yet been notified.

SOURCE: FOX59

Grisly allegations open Chittum trial

Edwardsville, Georgia, USA (April 5, 2019) BTN – Murder defendant Brandon Chittum was allegedly standing behind his best friend, Patrick Chase, coaching him on how to strangle Courtney Coats during her murder in 2013, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

“Do it harder; do it quick,” Chittum was allegedly telling Chase, as he was choking his girlfriend to “put her out of her misery,” Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Heischmidt told the jury in her opening statement. “The defendant was behind Chase, coaching him, giving him tips.”

Brandon Chittum

Chittum, 35, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, a count of dismembering a human body and concealment of a homicidal death. Coats went missing in late November 2013. Chase has since pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

Chittum, formerly of Alton and a former member of the Outlaws motorcycle club, has been in the Madison County Jail awaiting trial since December 2013. Testimony at trial was that Chase was a member of the Black Pistons motorcycle club , which was like a “farm club ” for the Outlaws. Chittum said during a recorded interview that the two became friends when they were members of an alcohol recovery group.

Heischmidt said Tuesday that Coats and Chase were in an argument at their home in the 2500 block of College Avenue, and Chase pushed her, causing her to hit and badly injure her head. Chase said he wanted to “put her out of her misery,” so he and Chittum allegedly dragged her into a bedroom, where the first attempt at strangling her failed.

The prosecutor said that Chittum felt for Coats’ pulse and told Chase she was not dead. They then dragged her into a bathroom, where Chase slit her throat. Chittum then allegedly said, “Now she’s gone,” Heischmidt told the jury. “They senselessly, violently and brutally murdered her,” the prosecutor said.

She then described how Chittum allegedly called his wife and asked to borrow her car. She then drove it to Alton and left, and the two suspects then cut up the body, placed it in bags and took the remains up to the Joe Page Bridge near Hardin. The remains were found near, and in, the Illinois River in Greene County.

When Coats’ mother, Elizabeth Kovach, began to notice her daughter was not contacting her, as she always did, she reported her missing. Police launched a 27-day search for Coats, but an investigation led the a confession by Chase, who led authorities to the remains. Crime scene specialists from Illinois State Police then performed a detailed search of the College Avenue apartment where the murder took place.

Investigators found blood in the bathroom. “Scratched into the soap scum in the bathtub was the word, ‘Help,’ Heischmidt said. The prosecutor said Chittum will say he left before the murder and returned to Collinsville, but phone records from Chittum’s phone showed he was in Alton, then in East Hardin, then in Alton.

Defense attorney Evelyn Lewis said her client went to sleep on the couch during the killing. “Brandon did not kill her. He wasn’t even aware of it.” She claimed Chase told police that Coats injured her neck, yet there is no evidence of a neck injury. She said Chittum never called police about the incident because “he was in the Outlaws, and he was afraid what was going to happen to him.”

Testimony in the trial began Tuesday. The trial may last into next week.

SOURCE: The Telegraph

Waco Biker massacre cases dismissed

Waco, Texas. USA (April 2, 2019) BTN —  Recently elected District Attorney Barry Johnson said in a release that, "following the indictments, the prior District Attorney had the time and opportunity to review and assess the admissible evidence to determine the full range of charges that could be brought against each individual who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl, and to charge only those offenses where the admissible evidence would support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In my opinion, had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences against many of those who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl. Over the next three years the prior District Attorney failed to take that action, for reasons that I do not know to this day."

Johnson said that when he assumed office in January, the statue of limitation expired on most of the offenses.

"I believe that any effort to charge and prosecute these individual charges at this time would only result in further waste of time, effort and resources of the McLennan County judicial system and place a further unfair burden on the taxpayers of McLennan County," Johnson said.

Related | Governor wants new anti-gang center for Waco

Related | Waco: Police Opened Fired On Bikers Witnesses Say

Archive | Waco Shooting History

On May 17, 2015, a shootout erupted at the Twin Peaks located in the Waco Central Texas Marketplace. The shootout was between two motorcycle clubs - the Bandidos and the Cossacks.

Nine bikers died in the shootout and dozens were injured. Following the incident, nearly 200 bikers were arrested.

Of those 177, 155 were indicted with various charges.

The first trial was held in September of 2017. The defendent, Jacob Carrizal, was being charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and directing activities of a criminal street gang. His trial lasted one month and ended with a mistrial.

After his trial, the amount of money spent on these cases totaled more than $1 million.

The results of Carrizal's trial started a domino effect. No other biker was tried, and the district attorney at the time, Abel Reyna, began dropping Twin Peaks biker cases. At one point, 60 cases were dismissed at one time by Judge Strother.

The remaining 24 bikers were re-indicted on a riot charge.

"I do not believe that it is a proper exercise of my judgment as District Attorney to proceed with the further prosecution of what I believe to have been an ill-conceived path that this District Attorney’s Office was set upon almost four years ago by the prior District Attorney, and I do not believe that path should continue to be pursued," Johnson said.

SOURCE: KXXV